FTSE 100 and 250 fall flat as mining stocks drag
The FTSE is down 0.48 per cent today at 7,034.42, falling by 33 points compared to yesterday’s close as mining stocks spurred losses.
Industrial and energy mining companies dragged the index down. Evraz is down 4.12 per cent, Anglo American PLC shed 3.1 per cent while mining giant BHP dropped 2.6 per cent.
Amid continued uncertainty over international travel rules International Consolidated Airlines plummeted by 4.2 per cent.
At the top of the pile, JD Sports jumped 9.7 per cent this morning after the retailer posted record financials for the half year and said the company expects pre-tax profits for the full year of at least £750 million.
Stagnant results for the Capital’s premiere index follow a modest rise yesterday which saw the FTSE 100 climb by 0.7 per cent, rebounding from last week’s dip amid news the government is planning a national insurance tax hike.
FTSE 250
The capital’s mid-cap FTSE 250 index also took a tumble of 0.37, losing 88 points to stand at 23,687.26 points.
Again mining and energy companies dragged on the market. Metal producer Ferrexpo led losses, down 9.4 per cent and Cairn energy dropped 4.3 per cent.
Financial stocks took a hit with Paragon Banking group falling by 4.5 per cent and Euromoney Institutional Investor falling 3.1 per cent.
Bucking the trend, online betting and gaming giant 888 Holdings led the way for gains, up 4.9 per cent on the back of news that the company had successfully acquired high street betting brand William Hill.
Analysts say
Michael Hewson, the Chief Market analyst at CMC markets, said: “after such a disappointing week it was perhaps inevitable that we’d see a modest pullback as European markets got the week off to a positive start.
“It should also be remembered that we saw a similar start for markets last week, only for sentiment to deteriorate sharply,” he cautioned.
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