London close: FTSE 100 dragged down by banks and miners

Banks and miners led the FTSE to a lower close Friday, in a session awash with blue-chip news including disappointing annual results from Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered, among other stocks reporting.

FTSE 100 closed down 0.38% or 27.67 points to 7,243.70, and FTSE 250 fell 0.29% to 18,588.64. FTSE 350 indices for industrial metals, mining and banking were down heavily.

"Though the market has pulled back from its mid-afternoon lows,there still wasn't a lot of green grass for investors to chomp on this Friday," said Spreadex's Connor Campbell.

"The FTSE couldn't handle the weight of its banking, oil and mining sectors this afternoon," said Campbell, a financial analyst. Oil prices were down Friday too as the market reacted with disappointment to yet another rise in US inventories.

The negative sentiment was not confined to London alone. In Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50, DAC and CAC 40 were all retreating, while, in the US, the Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were modestly lower.

Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, observed profit-takers were active.

"This stems from more tempered optimism towards Trump tax changes; pudding wanted for proof," he said in a statement, also noting dollar softness and less hawkish Fed minutes earlier in the week.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, further added that a surprise speech from US President Donald Trump again brought up the topics of wall-building, stimulus programmes and tax reform to the fore.

"US markets in particular have recovered most of the losses sustained in the immediate aftermath of the open.

"Risk is firmly out of favour today. With so many all long stocks, it means the risks to the downside have markedly increased, with snowball selling gathering pace."

Returning to the UK and in addition to the two lenders already mentioned, Standard Life fell as its full-year results displeased, while Micro Focus International's softness followed its trading update.

On the other hand, annual results from International Consolidated Airlines and Pearson were well received, propping shares in each of these companies.

Miners were mostly lower. Shares in Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Antofagasta all slumped alongside the tumbling price of three-month industrial metals.

An uptick in the price of safe-haven gold benefited Randgold Resources and Fresnillo, which are both sensitive to moves in the yellow metal's price.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,243.70 -0.38%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,588.64 -0.29%
techMARK (TASX) 3,366.47 -0.06%

FTSE 100 - Risers

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 527.00p 4.46%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,109.00p 1.98%
easyJet (EZJ) 931.50p 1.86%
Pearson (PSON) 657.00p 1.70%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 980.50p 1.66%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 177.30p 1.14%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,346.00p 1.03%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 884.00p 1.03%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,920.00p 1.00%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,635.00p 0.99%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 238.20p -4.49%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,315.50p -3.00%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,308.00p -2.93%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,635.00p -2.85%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 730.50p -2.73%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,186.00p -2.37%
3i Group (III) 687.50p -2.34%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 807.50p -2.06%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 737.50p -1.73%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,844.00p -1.70%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Inmarsat (ISAT) 702.00p 5.41%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 172.60p 4.29%
Essentra (ESNT) 530.50p 4.02%
William Hill (WMH) 268.00p 2.33%
Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 121.20p 2.28%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 433.80p 2.21%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 187.40p 2.18%
IMI (IMI) 1,209.00p 2.11%
Cobham (COB) 118.20p 2.07%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 367.20p 1.94%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Rightmove (RMV) 4,000.00p -5.77%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,110.00p -4.88%
Hunting (HTG) 520.50p -4.50%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 547.50p -4.45%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 891.00p -4.35%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 185.60p -3.33%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 416.50p -3.32%
Evraz (EVR) 228.90p -3.30%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 160.80p -3.25%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 265.10p -3.07%