London close: Weaker German business confidence, stress tests weigh on stocks

UK-listed stocks closed lower on Monday, with banks and mining stocks providing a drag in the aftermath of the results of the latest EU bank stress tests and alongside a weak reading on German business confidence.

The FTSE closed down 24.92 points at 6,363.81 after falling early on.

Stocks were dragged lower by news that the IFO institute's gauge of German business confidence had dropped to a 22-month low in October, with the business climate index falling from 104.7 to 103.2, well below the 104.5 consensus forecast.

“We expect a stabilisation before the end of the year. For late 2014, our forecasts for Eurozone and German GDP are below consensus,” said Berenberg economist Christian Schulz.

“Unfortunately, the October Ifo data suggests that the risks to our near-term calls remains to the downside.”

That came as the results of the bank's stress tests were unveiled on Friday, with Lloyds proving a particular disappointment ahead of Tuesday's interim management statement.

"The British banks may have passed the European stress test but for traders the margin by which Lloyds passed was too close for comfort," IG market analyst David Madden explained.

"It hardly instills confidence in the UK financial sector when the big five banks are given the all clear but the sector still finishes lower."

Acting as a backdrop, the DJ Stoxx 600 Banks sector index fell 1.74% and the FTSE Mibtel by another 2.40%. Monte dei Paschi di Siena's stock price cratered 21.5% after the lender failed Sunday's ECB and EBA stress tests.

In other news, growth in UK retail sales seemed to stabilise in October, led by a bounce in the clothing sector, but risks to the Britain’s economy more generally remain, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said in a report.

The CBI’s reported sales index for the year to September remained at last month's level of 31%, instead of slipping to a reading of 25% as economists had been expecting.

There was nervousness too ahead of Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which was also prompting an element of caution on the markets, with policymakers expected to announce the end of quantitative easing in the States.

Travel stocks lead following recent Ebola-related declines

Travel stocks were among the best performers as investors continued to search for bargains after recent Ebola-related weakness in the sector.

TUI Travel, Intercontinental Hotels, Carnival, IAG and Easyjet put in decent gains, with the latter two being helped by positive comments from Morgan Stanley analysts, who recommended investors buy the stocks with 'overweight' ratings and raised its target price on both.

Smiths Group was a big faller after its finance director announced he will step down in six months' time in order to pursue opportunities outside the group. The FTSE 100 technology group will use his remaining time with the board to find his successor.

Lloyds, HSBC, RBS and Barclays all traded firmly in the red following the stress test results.

On the second tier, Renishaw rose after it revealed that it now expects to continue to experience the revenue growth seen in its first quarter in the second half of its financial year. The brief announcement from the metorology and healthcare manufacturer came less than two weeks after it delivered its interim management statement, which revealed a 28% increase in first quarter revenue to £101.4m.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,688.02 -0.38%
FTSE 100 6,363.46 -0.40%
FTSE 250 15,040.39 -0.33%

FTSE 100 - Risers
TUI Travel (TT.) 374.70p +2.49%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,268.00p +2.30%
Reed Elsevier (REL) 995.00p +1.74%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 389.80p +1.70%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,290.00p +1.10%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,035.00p +1.08%
SABMiller (SAB) 3,392.50p +1.04%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 240.40p +0.92%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,367.00p +0.91%
Unilever (ULVR) 2,427.00p +0.87%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Royal Mail (RMG) 443.80p -3.06%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,121.00p -2.69%
Fresnillo (FRES) 746.00p -2.67%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 400.90p -2.58%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,499.00p -2.41%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,045.00p -2.15%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 678.50p -2.09%
Barclays (BARC) 221.85p -1.99%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,206.00p -1.96%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 779.50p -1.95%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Renishaw (RSW) 1,666.00p +4.78%
Infinis Energy (INFI) 221.00p +4.49%
Just Eat (JE.) 292.10p +4.36%
SSP Group (SSPG) 244.00p +2.95%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 309.50p +2.82%
Brit (BRIT) 239.20p +2.66%
esure Group (ESUR) 241.90p +1.72%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 367.40p +1.63%
Fidelity European Values (FEV) 150.80p +1.55%
Card Factory (CARD) 220.80p +1.52%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 190.00p -6.27%
EnQuest (ENQ) 70.50p -5.11%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 218.60p -5.08%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 107.50p -4.87%
Supergroup (SGP) 919.00p -3.57%
Synthomer (SYNT) 212.80p -3.10%
Kier Group (KIE) 1,484.00p -3.07%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 806.00p -2.95%
Afren (AFR) 92.00p -2.95%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 170.10p -2.91%