Banking and mining woes drag on FTSE

Market report Emma Newlands

London’s premier index was rooted in the red as investors balked at trading updates from banking and mining giants.

The FTSE 100 closed down 0.89 points at 7,246.77, as HSBC slid more than 3 per cent after results missed expectations despite annual profits doubling. Shares were down 23.5p to 737p, with rival lender Lloyds Banking Group dropping 0.1p to 67.9p.

Miner BHP Billiton also endured a rough ride after posting a plunge in half-year profits. The firm was the biggest faller on the London market, down 71.6p to 1,490.4p, as attributable profits sank 37 per cent to the equivalent of £1.4 billion.

On the currency markets, the pound shrugged off a disappoint- ing update from the UK manufacturing industry to push higher against the US dollar and the euro. Sterling was 0.1 per cent higher against the greenback at $1.40. Versus the euro, the pound rose 0.6 per cent at €1.13.

In UK stocks, bookmaker William Hill closed 1 per cent up at 328.5p despite being fined £6.2 million by the Gambling Commission over “systemic social responsibility and money laundering failures”.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included Standard Life Aberdeen, up 8.9p to 381.8p, and Ashtead Group, up 47p to 2,065p. The biggest fallers included Intercontinental Hotels Group, down 129p to 4,568p, and WPP, down 35.5p to 1,400p. The Fife shopfitting and interiors group has secured additional funding while giving an upbeat assessment of its prospects. Homewares store chain Dunelm saw its shares come under pressure as surging sales failed to provide a boost to half-year profits.