FTSE lags behind global market as miners struggle

A stock market sell-off among the natural resource sector helped push London’s top stocks into some of the worst territory among major global indexes yesterday. The FTSE 100 pushed down towards the 7,000 point line, finishing at 7024.21 after losing 71.32 points.

The 1% drop placed it behind markets in the US, which were flat when the FTSE closed, and behind its German counterpart, up 0.1%, and France’s Cac 40, which rose 0.2%.

There was no runaway loser on the FTSE 100. But miners Polymetal, Rio Tinto and BHP were significantly in the red as the index closed.

Few of the fallers on the FTSE 100 were driven by company news, but easyJet collapsed on the FTSE 250 after it announced plans to tap shareholders for £1.2 billion. By the end of the day its shares had closed down 10.2%.

The airline also told shareholders that it had rejected an attempted takeover offer by an unnamed firm, which Bloomberg reported was Wizz Air. Wizz declined to comment.

Despite its poor performance, easyJet did not pull the FTSE 250 deep into the red. The smaller index closed down 0.2%.

Shortly after markets closed in Europe, one pound would buy 1.3847 dollars or 1.1711 euros. Brent crude oil dropped 0.2% to 72.43 dollars per barrel.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included M&G, up 2.85p to 201.9p, Whitbread, up 41p to 3,292p, and Intermediate Capital Group, up 25p to 2,248p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 included CocaCola HBC, down 113p to 2,482p, United Utilities, down 218p to 6,140p, and Melrose Industries, down 5.9p to 178.4p.