The FTSE 100 closed at a five-week low yesterday, dragged down by banks and commodity stocks as fears grew over China's efforts to rein in the growth of credit. The index closed down 1.1% at 5,217.
Energy stocks were badly hit, with BG Group down 2.4%, Royal Dutch Shell falling 1.8% and BP 1.3% weaker. The sector's biggest faller was Tullow Oil, which lost 4.6%.
Miners suffered too. Anglo American lost 3.2%, Xstrata fell 3.1%, and Rio Tinto and ENRC were both 1.7% lower. Lonmin was the sector's lone climber, rising 0.4%.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Banks were also in the firing line. Royal Bank of Scotland fell 5.2%, Barclays lost 3.3%, Lloyds slipped 1.7% and HSBC 1.6%, while Standard Chartered shed 0.8%.
Read the latest stock market news and charts here.
Europe
In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 fell 48 points to 3,759; and the German Xetra Dax was 25 points lower at 5,643.
US
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4% to 10,236; the S&P 500 added 0.5% to 1,097; and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.8% higher at 2,221.
Asia
Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.6% to 10,414, while the broader Topix index gained 0.7% to 914. In China, the Shanghai Composite and CSI 300 indexes both rose 0.25% to 2,994 and 3,206 respectively.
Commodities
Brent spot was trading at $72.08 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $74.11. Spot gold was trading at $1,093 an ounce, silver was at $16.67 and platinum was at $1,516.
Currencies
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.6267 and against the euro at 1.1589. The dollar was trading at 0.7126 against the euro and 90.44 against the Japanese yen.
UK news
And in the UK, Bank of England official Andrew Haldane said that banks should use profits to strengthen their balance sheets rather than pay them out as dividends or bonuses to staff. Speaking to an audience of bankers in Liverpool last night, Mr. Haldane said: "There is a strong case for banks, in the UK and internationally, pocketing this windfall rather than distributing it to either staff or shareholders."
-
Going part-time could leave a £58,000 hole in your pension: how to plug the gapThere are many reasons for switching to part-time work, but some savers don’t consider the impact on their pension until it is too late
-
Three bargain investment trusts to add to your portfolioThese three investment trusts are bargains compared to their net asset value (NAV), but one fund analyst thinks the deep discounts are unwarranted.
