A multibillion-euro bailout for Spain’s banks was not enough to appease traders’ concerns over the embattled country as the London market closed 1% lower today.
The FTSE 100 Index closed down 62.4 points at 5,651.8 as Spain’s borrowing costs remained in bail-out territory at more than 7%, despite the country receiving approval for an £80billion rescue package for its beleaguered banks.
Banking stocks were among the worst hit, with Barclays down 5p at 159.3p, HSBC off 16.2p to 533.2p and Royal Bank of Scotland slipping 7.6p to 204.7p.
Disappointing first quarter figures from mobile phone giant Vodafone added to the rout. The mobile network suffered a 2% drop in shares – down 3.1p to 180p – after posting a 7.7% decline in reported revenues.
Other movers in the top flight included G4S, which fell another 1.7p to 241.8p despite its insistence that losses on its Olympics security contract remained within the £35million to £50million range.
Outside the top flight, shares in Goals Soccer Centres kicked on 10% after it agreed a £73million takeover deal with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Shares rose above Ontario’s 144p-a-share offer price to reach 148.5p, an increase of 13.5p.
The biggest Footsie risers were United Utilities up 7.5p at 698p, Rexam ahead 2.6p at 442.1p and BSkyB up 4p at 697.5p.
Among the biggest Footsie fallers were Evraz down 16p at 234.4p, Resolution off 12.4p at 215.5p and International Airlines Group off 5.3p at 154.8p.
David Barclay, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted Ithaca Energy rose 2% to 129.8p, Premier Oil was up 0.9% at 390.4p and Hunting took on 0.8% to finish at 767.3p.
Laggards included Aberdeen Asset Management, down 3% to 251.2p, and Aggreko, which fell 2.6% to £19.57.
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