Greek shambles saps investor confidence
Markets saw confidence drain away again today as the shambles surrounding Greece’s attempts to trigger further bailout funds continued unabated.
Greece’s economic future hangs in the balance after the country’s international creditors demanded more steps from Athens before they release a rescue package.
Resource stocks pegged the FTSE 100 back with miner Anglo American down 2.4 per cent while rival BHP Billiton dipped by around two per cent.
National Grid was another stock to be dented, down just over two per cent.
Among financial stocks Icap was the biggest faller down three per cent, also making it the poorest performing stock on the index.
Hedge fund giant Man Group was also off by more than two per cent.
Barclays was the top riser as it reported a £5.9bn profit for 2011. That was three per cent down after a weaker performance at its investment banking unit. But analysts concluded that the results were solid considering the current market.
The bank also said the bonus pool at the investment banking division was down 32 per cent to £1.5bn in 2011.
Across the sector Lloyds remained flat in early trading while RBS edged down marginally.
Retailer Next was up 1.2 per cent while InterContinental Hotels Group also nudged up just over one per cent.
Temporary power supplier Aggreko and cruise ship company Carnival – hit recently by the sinking of the Concordia – saw slim rises.
In Asia the Nikkei closed down 0.6 per cent and the Hang Seng 1.08 per cent.
Meanwhile British factory gate inflation dropped to its lowest in more than a year in January as input costs also rose at a much slower pace, data showed.
Output price inflation fell to 4.1 per cent from 4.8 per cent in December, its lowest annual level since November 2010, but the drop was smaller than economists had forecast, highlighting the risk that consumer price inflation may not fall as fast this year as the Bank of England is predicting.
Across the Atlantic later US international trade figures are due for release.