LONDON MARKETS: Banks Rise, But FTSE 100 Fails To Find A Footing
21 September 2017 - 6:29PM
Dow Jones News
By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Miners pull back as rising dollar hits commodity prices
U.K. stocks struggled to find momentum Thursday, even as bank
shares rose after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at an
interest-rate rise and announced it would begin paring the size of
its balance sheet next month.
After swinging between gains and losses throughout the day, the
FTSE 100 index ended 0.1% lower at 7,263.90.
After trading in London closed Wednesday, the Fed said it would
begin to shrink its huge $4.5 trillion balance sheet in October
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-yellen-says-low-inflation-a-mystery-but-not-mysterious-enough-to-keep-rates-low-2017-09-20).
The U.S. central bank also signaled plans for one more increase in
interest rates before the end of 2017, which should lift borrowing
costs for auto loans, mortgages and business loans. Fed policy
makers also hinted at another three rate increases in 2018.
"This may have surprised investors looking for a downward
revision in the rate path due to the recent soft patch in
inflation. As a result, the probability for another rate hike by
December jumped to 70%, and the market bought dollars
aggressively," said Charalambos Pissouros, senior analyst at
IronFX, in an note.
Bank boost: The prospect of higher interest rates boosted bank
stocks on Wall Street
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/financial-stocks-spike-up-after-fed-with-bank-of-america-and-wells-fargo-shares-swinging-higher-2017-09-20),
and similar shares in U.K. and Europe followed suit. In London,
Barclays PLC (BCS) (BCS) gained 2.4% Royal Bank of Scotland Group
(RBS.LN) (RBS.LN) rose by 1.6%.
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.LN) (LLOY.LN) picked up 2.7%, while
Standard Chartered (STAN.LN) ended 0.5% higher.
Mining down: Meanwhile, shares of miners fell, as commodity
prices came under pressure from a rise in the U.S. dollar after the
Fed's announcement. Gold , which like other metals is priced in
dollars, slumped more than 1%.
Shares of gold producers Fresnillo PLC (FRES.LN) and Randgold
Resources PLC (RRS.LN) (RRS.LN) lost 2.2% and 2.3%, respectively.
Antofagasta PLC (ANTO.LN) dropped 2.3% and Rio Tinto PLC (RIO)
(RIO) (RIO) declined 1.2%.
But Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) rose 2.9%, after the family
trust of Anil Agarwal, the founder of India's largest mining
company Vedanta Resources PLC, revealed plans to ramp up its
investment in the mining heavyweight by as much as $2 billion
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/agarwal-plans-2-bln-boost-to-anglo-american-stake-2017-09-21).
That would make Volcan Investments Ltd., the largest stakeholder in
Anglo American.
Stock movers: Capita PLC shares (CPI.LN) tumbled 12% after the
outsourcing and professional services company posted a 26% fall in
pretax profit for the first half of the year
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/capita-profit-falls-26-but-trading-in-line-2017-09-21).
It did say that trading was broadly in line with expectations.
CRH PLC (CRG.DB) gained 2.4%. The Irish building materials
supplier said it has agreed to buy Ash Grove Cement Co
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/crh-agrees-to-buy-ash-grove-cement-in-35-billion-deal-2017-09-21).(ASHG)
in a deal valuing the U.S. cement provider at $3.5 billion, the
companies said.
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/crh-agrees-to-buy-ash-grove-cement-in-35-billion-deal-2017-09-21)
Johnson Matthey PLC (JMAT.LN) soared 15% after the catalyst
maker revealed plans to tap into the electric car battery market
and backed its guidance for fiscal 2018
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/johnson-matthey-sees-sales-growth-backs-guidance-2017-09-21).
Pound holds: Sterling managed to hold to slightly higher ground
Thursday. The pound was buying $1.3572, compared with $1.3494 late
Wednesday in New York.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 21, 2017 12:14 ET (16:14 GMT)
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