DAVID MYRDDIN-EVANS
Shares drifted lower on Monday as the week of the General Election got under way. Sterling strengthened, weakening the appeal of stocks such as miners that earn most of the income in foreign currencies. Antofagasta and Fresnillo were among the biggest losers as the FTSE 100 finished down by 0.29% at 7,525.76.
In early trading on Tuesday the market was edging slightly down again as investors digested poor retail sales data.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% overall last week.
The index hit a new intraday high on Friday on the back of gains for financial stocks. Old Mutual was up 2.6% and the London Stock Exchange added 1%.
Thursday also saw financial stocks ahead, along with a recovery for the resource sector. 3i added 2.7% on a broker upgrade, while Standard Chartered was up 1.8%. Antofagasta added 2.1% with Rio Tinto up 1.3%.
On Wednesday, the FTSE 100 hit another intraday high. But miners were weak after iron ore prices hit their lowest level in six months. Rio Tinto was the biggest blue-chip faller, off 2.5%, while BHP Billiton and Glencore were down by similar amounts. Wednesday also marked the end of May, with the monthly gain for the FTSE 100 totalling 4.9%.
The blue-chip index was down last Tuesday, with lower metal prices hitting miners and BP and Shell down on a lower oil price. Tesco was also lower as the Competition and Markets Authority opened an investigation into the supermarket’s planned acquisition of Booker.
But London Stock Exchange shares rose 1.5% after the group announced a deal to buy Citigroup’s fixed income indices and analytics business for $685m.