By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Shire leads decliners
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks fell Wednesday, swept lower
along with other global equity markets as worries about euro-zone
growth and Russia's conflict with Ukraine returned to the fore.
The FTSE 100 index fell 0.7% to 6,636.16, as oil, health-related
and bank shares struggled. Stocks fell to intraday lows after
Italian data showed the economy was in recession in the second
quarter, underscoring concerns about business conditions in the
euro-zone market.
U.K. stocks had started the session lower after Wall Street,
then overnight in Asia, slumping after reports that Russia has
dramatically increased the number of troops and vehicles at its
eastern border with Ukraine, and after the Polish foreign minister
warned of the potential for an invasion. On Tuesday, Russian
President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to prepare
retaliatory measures against U.S. and European economic sanctions
imposed on Russia.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.9% on Wednesday.
In London, decliners on the FTSE 100 were led by a 4.1% fall in
shares of medical device maker Smith & Nephew PLC . Shares of
pharmaceutical company Shire PLC gave up 4% drug producer
AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) shed 3.6%.
Standard Chartered PLC turned 0.7% lower following a Wall Street
Journal report that the bank and New York's banking regulator are
in talks to settle allegations that Standard failed to flag
millions of higher-risk transactions that should have undergone
further review.
But Legal & General Group PLC edged up 0.2% as the insurer
and fund manager posted an 11% rise in first-half operating profit
and raised its interim dividend by 21% to 2.90 pence a share.
From the data front, industrial production in the U.K. rose less
than forecast in June, according to figures released Wednesday by
the Office for National Statistics. Production output increased by
0.3% month-on-month, against economists' estimates for a rise of
0.6%.
Meanwhile, house prices in the U.K. rose 1.4% in July on the
previous month, after registering a 0.4% fall in June, according to
a survey from Halifax released Wednesday. On the year, prices were
up 10.2%, the largest annual gain since the start of the financial
crisis in September 2007.
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