Weaker financials and surge in jobless claims pulls Footsie lower

FTSE: 5,742.55 (–60.58) Mid-250: 11,763.43 (–98.00) Small Cap: 3,283.13 (–5.42)UK STOCKS fell yesterday, after British jobless claims soared more than forecast last month and investors speculated that divisions between European officials may delay a second rescue plan for Greece.

The FTSE 100 Index dropped 60.58, or 1 per cent, to 5,742.55, snapping a two-day rebound. The gauge had fallen for three straight weeks as US payroll reports trailed economists’ forecasts and concern mounted that Greece may default on its debt. The FTSE All-Share Index declined 1 per cent yesterday.

“Traders have found little reason to commit to equities in a big way,” said Manoj Ladwa, a senior trader at ETX Capital in London.

“All the ‘risk-on’ assets – equities, precious metals – seem to have lost their upside momentum and are rolling over,” he said.

An Office for National Statistics report yesterday showed UK jobless claims jumped 19,600 in May while wage growth slowed, pointing to a continued squeeze on households as inflation accelerates.

The median forecast of 22 economists in a Bloomberg News survey called for an increase of 6,500.

Wage growth excluding bonuses slowed to 2 per cent in the three months through April, the weakest since the quarter through August. Barclays, RBS, Lloyds Banks fell after an emergency session of finance ministers in Brussels yesterday failed to reconcile a German-led push for bondholders to shoulder part of the cost of a new Greek aid package with the European Central Bank’s warning that the move may constitute the euro area’s first sovereign default.

Barclays declined 2.7 per cent to 257.4p. Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain’s biggest government-owned lender, slid 1.9 per cent to 40.8p and HSBC slid 1.2 per cent to 608.6p.

Experian lost 1.9 per cent to 785p in London.

Glencore sank 5.4 per cent to 473p, extending Wednesday’s 4.5 per cent sell-off after the company reported profit that analysts deemed “disappointing”.

Xstrata, which is 34 per cent owned by Glencore, dropped 2.6 per cent to 1,259.5p.

Man, the world’s biggest publicly traded hedge fund firm, dropped 3.2 per cent to 232.6p after the net asset value of its AHL Diversified Futures fund fell 0.3 per cent last week. – (Bloomberg)