Market ends in red after US opens lower

Market report Perry Gourley

Engineering firm GKN and miners dragged the FTSE 100 into the red, with falls on Wall Street also weighing on London’s top flight.

The index closed down 9.75 points, at 7,214.76 with GKN the biggest faller, ending the day down 11p or 2.53 per cent at 424.1p.

It came after GKN rejected a final £8.1 billion takeover offer from Melrose Industries, saying it “continues to fundamentally undervalue” the engineering giant.

Miners Randgold and Fres- nillo were also among the fallers on the top flight as they tracked metal prices lower, both falling around 0.8 per cent.

Shares in Just Eat also took a knock following a downgrade from Deutsche Bank from sell to hold. The takeaway delivery firm ended the day down 0.86 per cent at 781.6p.

Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said: “Dominating the loser board were the likes of GKN following another hostile bid from Melrose, and Just Eat following a broker downgrade.

“Precious metal miners Randgold and Fresnillo were also among the fallers tracing metal prices lower, as investors ditched safe havens such as gold in favour of riskier assets.”

Low-cost airline Easyjet topped the top-flight gainers board, closing 2.85 per cent higher at 1,607.5p, after Credit Suisse raised its price target for the company. The technology was boosted by news that it plans to return around £8m in cash to shareholders following the sale of its video business. Shares in the corporate turnaround firm fell after its final £8.1 billion offer for engineering group GKN was rejected by its board.