London close: Stocks finish lower on mounting Brexit fears

UK stocks finished lower on Monday as Brexit fears rose ahead of the next week’s European Union referendum.

The pound regained ground against the dollar after falling earlier in the session as polls showed more Britons in favour of leaving the European Union before the 23 June referendum. At 1629 BST the pound rose 0.04% to $1.4262.

The ORB poll for the Independent showed 55.0% said they were now backing the option to leave the EU, against 45.0% who said they were supporting 'Remain'.

A poll by the Financial Times showed 'Leave' has taken the lead for the first time, at 46% versus the Remain camp's 44%.

“The elevated concerns and mounting anxiety ahead of the EU referendum vote on the 23rd of June has created a contagion, which continues to haunt investor attraction towards not only the Sterling but riskier assets,” said FXTM research analyst Lukman Otunga.

“Volatility has intensified to unfathomable levels while uncertainty nears a peak following the conflicting polls which continue to leave the majority of investors on edge.”

Meanwhile, oil prices rebounded from earlier lows as the dollar reversed gains. Brent crude rose 0.15% to $50.62 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate increased 0.18% to $49.16 per barrel at 1636 BST.

In economic data, Chinese industrial production held steady in May. Industrial output rose 6% in May from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said, in line with the previous month’s growth and analysts’ expectations.

Retail sales rose 10% year-on-year in May, missing forecasts for a 10.1% increase and following a 10.1% gain the previous month.

China’s fixed asset investments, excluding rural, climbed 9.6% year-on-year in May compared to a 10.5% increase in April. Economists had pencilled in no change.

Among corporate stocks, banks were under pressure on Brexit worries with Lloyds, Standard Chartered and Barclays in the red.

G4S slumped after it emerged the security services company employed the suspect responsible for a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida that killed at least 50 people.

Aveva jumped after confirming it has received a revised and conditional proposal from Schneider Electric SE to combine with that company's Software Business in exchange for new Aveva shares and a significant cash payment.

Inmarsat edged higher as it formed a partnership with maritime broadband specialist SpeedCast International to roll out the satellite company's new Global Xpress (GX) service to around 2,000 vessels in five years.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,059.64 -0.92%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,619.80 -1.23%
techMARK (TASX) 3,016.20 -0.78%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,233.00p 1.57%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 217.20p 1.54%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 710.50p 1.00%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,670.00p 0.68%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,421.00p 0.53%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,951.50p 0.49%
GKN (GKN) 270.80p 0.22%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,795.00p 0.20%
Pearson (PSON) 797.50p 0.06%
Worldpay Group (WI) (WPG) 275.70p -0.04%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 64.23p -4.21%
Sky (SKY) 895.50p -3.24%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,230.00p -3.00%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,850.00p -2.89%
BT Group (BT.A) 410.95p -2.75%
Schroders (SDR) 2,485.00p -2.63%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 502.70p -2.56%
Aviva (AV.) 411.60p -2.35%
3i Group (III) 542.00p -2.25%
Barclays (BARC) 165.60p -2.24%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aveva Group (AVV) 1,854.50p 9.67%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 113.70p 3.36%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 730.00p 0.62%
Beazley (BEZ) 356.00p 0.56%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 421.30p 0.55%
Debenhams (DEB) 69.75p 0.50%
Victrex plc (VCT) 1,419.00p 0.50%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 346.40p 0.49%
GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd (GCP) 120.00p 0.33%
John Laing Group (JLG) 215.50p 0.33%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 226.00p -7.38%
Allied Minds (ALM) 326.20p -6.80%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 267.10p -5.32%
G4S (GFS) 178.40p -4.80%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,400.00p -4.63%
Paysafe Group (PAYS) 374.50p -3.97%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 142.30p -3.72%
Evraz (EVR) 121.70p -3.72%
Cranswick (CWK) 2,231.00p -3.50%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 426.30p -3.36%