FTSE 100 down on global growth concerns
The leading blue chip index opened down this morning, consolidating losses overnight from the US and Asia on further warnings from the International Monetary Fund.
Airline Flybe sank 4.85 per cent in early trading, while home shopping group N Brown fell 3.69 per cent.
Shipping firm Anglo Pacific fell 3.2 per cent in early trading.
Media platform Perform fell 3.33 per cent, while beleaguered holiday company Thomas Cook dropped 2.86 per cent as it announced it was to axe 430 jobs as it shrinks its UK airline.
Newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror continued its zig zag up and down the index, falling 2.36 per cent this morning. It has gradually risen to hover around 62p a share, up from 27p during the summer.
At the other end of the spectrum, investment manager Man Group was up 5.8 per cent in early deals, closely followed by insurer CPP Group, which rose 5.71 per cent.
South African miner Aquarius Platinum added 3.05 per cent, just days after chief executive Stuart Murray announced he was to stand down. Fellow platinum miner Lonmin also appeared on the leaderboard, adding more than two per cent.
Whiteboard maker Promethean jumped almost three per cent, following a profit warning last week that saw almost 30 per cent of the company’s value wiped off.
UK banks buoyed the FTSE 100 in early deals. Lloyds Banking Group rose 3.57 per cent, and RBS added 2.18 per cent. Barclays increased 0.89 per cent while HSBC rose 0.46 per cent.
Asian stock markets fell heavily overnight. The Nikkei closed 1.98 per cent down, while the Hang Seng was off by 0.08 per cent. In the US, the Dow Jones closed 0.81 per cent down.