The ongoing eurozone crisis put more pressure on markets today, with London’s FTSE 100 Index suffering a third straight session of losses.
It was down by 80 points at one stage but recovered late in the session to close 24.5 points lower at 5,530.5.
Despite the rally, the Footsie has lost around 4% of its value in the three sessions since Thursday night and is now well below the 5,572 seen at the start of the year.
Investors worried about the prospect of Spain having to bail out its banks impacted on the sector in the UK, with Royal Bank of Scotland down 0.8p at 22.6p and Lloyds Banking Group off 1.1p to 29.9p.
The Footsie’s biggest fallers were Sage down 15.2p at £2.63, Weir Group off 82p at £15.14, Polymetal International down 39p at 767.5p and Tullow Oil off 73p at £14.44.
Top flight risers included Vedanta Resources up 30p at £10.89, Burberry ahead 35p to £14.62 and Man Group up 1.95p at 84.4p.
The depressed overall market performance overlooked further resilient trading on the corporate front, with ITV, Sainsbury’s and easyJet all posting well-received updates.
Broadcaster ITV was one of the biggest risers – up 1.75p at 82.5p – after strong first quarter figures showing revenue up 15% to £652million.
Sainsbury’s was not far behind as the UK’s third largest supermarket chain delivered a better-than-expected rise in annual profits and signalled it was ready to scale back expansion in order to boost shareholder returns. The stock lifted 4p to 305.3p.
In the FTSE 250 Index, investors in low-cost airline easyJet were boosted by news it had narrowed half-year losses to a better-than-expected £112million. The shares were 18.5p higher at 527.5p, a gain of 4%.
Elaine McLachlan, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Inverness, noted Johnston Press gaining 3.6% to 5.8p, British Polythene Industries up 2.5% at £3.28 and John Menzies rising 1% to 623.5p.
Scottish fallers included IndigoVision down 8.3% to 302.5p, Melrose Resources 7.2% lower at 113.3p and Xcite Energy off 6.4% at 91.6p.