A stark warning over global growth prospects from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) saw London’s leading shares index close in the red today.
The FTSE 100 Index closed 31.5 points lower at 5,810.3 after the IMF warned the risks of a significant global slowdown were “alarmingly high”.
Among stocks, banking giant Barclays was firmly in the spotlight after it announced a deal to buy online bank ING Direct UK in a move that will add another 1.5million customers to its retail arm. Shares were ahead in early trading but closed 0.8p behind at 221.6p as analysts digested the implications of the acquisition.
Miners were on the front foot however, with Vedanta Resources leading the sector higher, up 22p to £10.90, as it reported robust second quarter production figures.
Retailers were given a fillip as figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed a sales rebound last month, up 1.5% on a like-for-like basis compared with a 0.4% drop in August.
Marks & Spencer rose 11.8p to 381.3p and Next lifted 30p to £35.71, while in the second tier Debenhams lifted 2.2p to 107.2p and Argos parent Home Retail Group added 3p to 97.3p.
The biggest Footsie risers include Rio Tinto up 45.5p at £30.30 and Aberdeen Asset Management ahead 4.6p at 325.5p.
Among the biggest Footsie fallers were Capita down 28.5p at 740p, Aggreko off 79p at £22.40, CRH down 40p at £11.43 and BT off 5.2p at 221.7p.
Carrie Keenan, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted that Bridge Group was among the risers, up 5.32% at 138.5p.
Fallers included Hunting, which slid a further 1.26% to 823.5p, while FirstGroup suffered another day of losses, giving up 1.42% to close at 187.85p.