London close: Ebola and downbeat Chinese housing data weigh on markets

London shares ended Friday on a negative note amid fresh jitters about the Ebola virus and weak Chinese property data.

The FTSE 100 Index closed 30.42 points adrift at 6388.73 as a New York doctor who recently returned from Ebola-hit Guinea in West Africa became the fourth case of the virus in the US.

The first decline in average home prices in 70 major Chinese cities last month since November 2012 also rattled markets.

Traders in Europe also sat on the sidelines ahead of the expected publication this weekend of the European Central Bank’s stress tests on Eurozone banks.

Meanwhile, ECB president Mario Draghi called on Europe’s leaders to do more to reform their economies to avoid a relapse into recession.

Back in London, official figures showed UK GDP slowing down slightly to a 0.7% pace of growth in the third quarter from 0.9% in the second.

On the corporate front, drug group Shire led the Footsie risers with a 155p tonic to 4,050p after posting higher third quarter profit.

It also voiced confidence about life as an independent company after US group Abbvie dropped its takeover bid.

But Tesco was in the red again with a 2.25p drop to 168.75p after figures showed it was the industry’s biggest sales loser in the last 12 weeks.

Miners were under pressure thanks to the weak Chinese property news and the implied dim outlook for raw materials demand.

Anglo American was the sector’s biggest faller with a 32p drop to 1,308p, BHP Billiton reversed 31.5p to 1,627p and Fresnillo backtracked 14p to 766.5p.

Pet shop chain Pets at Home fluffed up 7p to 179p after reporting higher first half sales and saying it was on track to hit full-year targets.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,698.40 +0.33%
FTSE 100 6,388.73 -0.47%
FTSE 250 15,089.55 -0.31%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,050.00p +3.98%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 200.50p +1.85%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,115.00p +1.46%
Old Mutual (OML) 184.70p +0.65%
3i Group (III) 379.60p +0.56%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 76.72p +0.51%
Royal Mail (RMG) 457.80p +0.50%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,276.00p +0.47%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 466.90p +0.45%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 238.20p +0.42%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Pearson (PSON) 1,139.00p -2.57%
G4S (GFS) 251.00p -2.41%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,308.00p -2.39%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 494.60p -2.16%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,627.00p -1.90%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,217.00p -1.90%
Next (NXT) 6,500.00p -1.89%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,981.00p -1.85%
Fresnillo (FRES) 766.50p -1.79%
BT Group (BT.A) 370.00p -1.75%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Spectris (SXS) 1,715.00p +4.26%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 179.00p +4.07%
Genus (GNS) 1,201.00p +3.53%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 278.00p +3.27%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,423.00p +3.19%
NMC Health (NMC) 488.90p +2.93%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,025.00p +2.93%
Just Retirement Group (JRG) 131.50p +2.90%
Cranswick (CWK) 1,340.00p +2.68%
Rank Group (RNK) 165.00p +2.48%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 113.00p -5.04%
IP Group (IPO) 187.50p -4.77%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,813.00p -4.58%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 230.30p -4.44%
Debenhams (DEB) 60.85p -4.02%
Foxtons Group (FOXT) 158.60p -3.88%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 152.10p -3.73%
Ladbrokes (LAD) 116.90p -3.47%
Senior (SNR) 257.10p -3.27%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 668.00p -3.19%