Eurozone fears see FTSE 100 fall to fresh 2012 low
UK equities slumped to their lowest level this year yesterday and faced further losses amid downbeat corporate reports and concerns about the health of the Eurozone, Britain’s biggest export market.
Shares in several big companies – including oil major BP and drug maker GlaxoSmithKline – went ex-dividend, meaning investors buying them from now on will no longer qualify for the latest payout.
Sentiment was also dampened by continued political uncertainty in Greece and reports that Spain will demand its banks make extra provisions against loans to builders.
The London blue chip index closed down 24.50 points, or 0.4 per cent at 5,530.05, extending Tuesday’s 1.8 per cent drop. In volatile trading, it hit an intra-day trough of 5,464.41 points – its weakest level since late December 2011.
Bucking the trend, miner Glencore rose 1.5 per cent after reporting stronger demand for the commodities it extracts from China and the US. Software firm Sage Group, whose small business customers – especially in Spain – have been shutting down in droves, missed forecasts on first-quarter revenues, sending its shares down 5.5 per cent. Fund manager F&C Asset Management, which reported £1.7bn of outflows for the first three months of the year, saw its shares fall 1.9 per cent.