London close: Resources weakness, US tax-reform hangover and ex-divs punish FTSE

Equities in London were punished lower on Thursday as pronounced weakness among mining and oil majors, a US tax-reform hangover, and a bundle of ex-dividend shares all told against the FTSE.

The FTSE 100 closed the second to last session of the week down 0.71% to 7,237.17, and the FTSE 250 ended down 0.21% to 19,636.64. Indices in Europe and the US were mostly down as well.

"European markets are experiencing what can only be described as a post-tax reform hangover today, and as with all hangovers investors should really have seen this one coming," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

"It was never particularly likely that the (Donald) Trump administration was going to be able to deliver on the expectations of the market and so it has been proved, though the effect on the US dollar hasn't been particularly marked," said Hewson.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, opined that as the session wound down it was getting quite messy.

"The FTSE 100 is at the lows of the day, while European markets have given up their limited gains and the US (aside from the Nasdaq) has turned southwards as well," he said.

"The latest attempt to get the Trump bounce moving again has barely got off the ground; disappointment with the tax plan is palpable, and if it weren’t for the looming end of the month, markets would probably be a quite a bit lower."

Overall, weakness in metals and particularly oil prices weighed on the FTSE 100. European markets shrugged off a European Central Bank that was less than effusive about the recovery in the euro zone.

ECB kept its policy interest rates unchanged, as expected. It restated these might yet be cut and that QE could be extended beyond their end-December 2017 expiry, if needed.

Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, said the ECB had provided a minor distraction from the Trump fallout this afternoon.

"The main (ECB) takeaway was that the central bank believes the region needs a 'substantial degree of monetary accommodation' to reach its inflation targets," he said.

Blue-chip news and ex-dividends

ITV, Rolls-Royce, Legal & General, Antofagasta, Relx, Fresnillo, Informa, Elementis, William Hill, National Express, Senior and UBM all retreated as their stock went ex-dividend.

BP has agreed to sell its 50% stake in the Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical Company Ltd to Gaoqiao Petrochemical Co Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), BP's joint venture partner, for a total of $1.68bn.

Housebuilder Persimmon was in the black after it said current forward sales revenue, including legal completions taken to date, was up 11% to £2. 56 bn, adding that it was confident on future prospects.

AstraZeneca was on the back foot after it posted a drop in first-quarter sales, while WPP also declined after it said sales slowed in the first quarter due to major account losses.

Lloyds Banking Group bucked the trend, rallying after it reported that profits doubled in the first three months of the year.

Taylor Wimpey nudged a touch higher as it set aside £130m for a leasehold scandal.

Healthcare provider Mediclinic International rocketed on news that Adu Dhabi has waived 20% of the co-payment for Thiqa health insurance card holders.

Schroders lost ground even as the fund manager reported a 5% jump in assets under management and administration for the first quarter.

Prudential, St James's Place and Aviva were initiated at 'outperform' at Credit Suisse, while Legal & General was rated a new 'underperform'.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,237.17 -0.71%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,636.64 -0.21%
techMARK (TASX) 3,480.84 -0.25%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Mediclinic International (MDC) 859.00p 17.51%
Kingfisher (KGF) 335.80p 2.75%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,340.00p 2.36%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 68.97p 2.31%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,000.00p 1.69%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 201.60p 1.56%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,406.00p 1.52%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,050.00p 1.43%
Next (NXT) 4,303.00p 1.41%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 3,391.00p 1.28%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Legal & General Group (LGEN) 246.90p -5.44%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,153.50p -4.75%
ITV (ITV) 210.50p -4.06%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,436.00p -3.82%
Glencore (GLEN) 299.65p -3.15%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 818.50p -2.79%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,030.00p -2.63%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 548.50p -2.58%
WPP (WPP) 1,680.00p -2.44%
BP (BP.) 442.65p -2.42%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Berendsen (BRSN) 867.50p 5.54%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 337.10p 4.82%
Allied Minds (ALM) 162.90p 3.49%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 365.00p 2.99%
Ibstock (IBST) 226.90p 2.90%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 492.10p 2.71%
Nex Group (NXG) 617.50p 2.40%
NMC Health (NMC) 1,955.00p 2.20%
Essentra (ESNT) 536.00p 2.10%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 333.30p 1.99%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,400.00p -8.08%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 666.00p -7.37%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,945.00p -6.63%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 548.50p -4.77%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 770.50p -4.11%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 151.70p -3.80%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 823.50p -3.74%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 239.50p -3.62%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 250.50p -3.58%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 206.60p -3.55%