Just a handful of stocks managed any gains yesterday as the FTSE 100 slipped back 1.4% to close at 5,267, its biggest one-day fall for three weeks.
Miners were at the sharp end, with Antofagasta and Xstrata the biggest losers of the day, down 5.3% and 5% respectively; the rest of the sector wasn't far behind. Energy stocks slipped too, with Royal Dutch Shell down 1.7% and BP 1.2% lower. And among banks, Lloyds was the only riser, managing a rise of 0.4%.
Heading the few climbers was brewer SAB Miller, which added 3.4% after reporting better than expected first half results. Other stocks in positive territory included household goods group Reckitt Benckiser, up 1.1%, National Grid, Resolution, Tesco and Centrica.
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Europe
In Europe, the Paris CAC fell 68 points to 3,760; and the German Xetra Dax was 85 points lower at 5,702.
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US
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9% to 10,332; the S&P 500 lost 1.3% to 1,094; and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.7% lower at 2,156.
Asia
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.5% to 9,497; while the broader Topix index gained 0.1% to 838. In China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.4% to 3,308; and the CSI 300 lost 0.3% to 3,631.
Commodities
Brent spot was trading at $77.10 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $77.70. Spot gold was trading at $1,146 an ounce; silver was at $18.48 and platinum was at $1,437.
Currencies
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.6604 and against the euro at 1.1137. The dollar was trading at 0.6711 against the euro and 88.87 against the Japanese yen.
UK news
And today, Britain's biggest building society, the Nationwide, reported a 63% fall in profits. In the six months to 30 September profits fell to £143m, down from £374m a year ago. The society also sounded a bearish note for house prices over the next year, saying: "The growth in house prices over recent months appears to be driven by lack of supply, and growth in unemployment throughout 2010 will inevitably exert downward pressure on house prices."
