Footsie down as global woes hit sentiment

The Footsie ended the week in the red as global sentiment dipped on US jobs data and Chinese trade figures.

The index closed down 53.24 points at 7,104.31 and its European counterparts also felt the sting of global pessimism on the markets, with the German Dax down 0.53 per cent and the French Cac falling 0.7 per cent.

Trading began on a negative note when overnight Chinese trade figures showed that exports and imports declined. In the afternoon, US nonfarm payrolls showed only 20,000 jobs were created in February, well below the expected 180,000.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said the numbers added to concerns over the state of the global economy.

“The poor numbers added weight to the argument that the global economy is cooling down,” he said. “In London, mining stocks were in the red due to the weak import numbers. China is a major importer of minerals, and dealers are worried China’s demand for metals will wane.”

Ladbrokes owner GVC was down 95.5p, almost 14 per cent, to 588.5p after bosses cashed in from a share sale. Shares in Scottish-based five-a-side operator Goals Soccer Centres crashed after the company warned that annual results would be materially below expectations. The group said its board and auditors were working to resolve certain accounting errors for the financial year ending 31 December. The stock was down 18p to 36p at the close. Building supplies firm SIG swung to a profit last year on lower costs and saw shares rise by 10.3p to 132.5p.