Eurozone deal fails to breathe new life into markets
The FTSE 100 opened down today as action to increase the Eurozone’s bailout fund failed to breathe new life into global markets.
World stocks fell with European shares set to post their biggest quarterly decline since the collapse of Lehman Brothers three years ago, as investors grappled with a slowdown in global growth and the ongoing sovereign debt crisis.
Europe again averted disaster yesterday when German deputies rallied behind Chancellor Angela Merkel to approve a stronger Eurozone bailout fund.
But investors appeared unimpressed by the last ditch action which it was hoped would spark a renewed confidence in equities.
Burberry was down by 4.5 per cent as worries over Asian economic growth — key markets for its luxury goods — impacted its stock.
The main concern is sluggish growth in Chinese manufacturing.
Safety testing company Intertek was the second biggest faller, losing 3.2 per cent.
Hedge fund giant Man Group was three per cent off after a trading update earlier in the week which showed clients pulling money from its funds amid the market volatility over the summer.
Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered also dropped by more than three per cent, while Investec was down 2.9 per cent.
Elswehere in banking Lloyds was down 0.8 per cent and Barclays 0.7 per cent. RBS nudged up by 0.3 per cent.
On the upside miners enjoyed a modest rally with Xstrata, the biggest riser on the FTSE 100, up 1.3 per cent. Vedanta rose 0.9 per cent and Rio Tinto 0.6 per cent.
Meanwhile Imperial Tobacco and pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca rose by around 0.8 per cent.
Asian stocks closed down today extending the worst monthly performance since the most volatile days of the global financial crisis in October 2008. The Nikkei suffered its worst quarter in over a year. The Hang Seng closed down 2.6 per cent down today.
On a more upbeat note in the UK, confidence among British consumers improved this month for the first time since May, after shoppers’ took a more positive view of the economic outlook, according to a survey by GfK NOP.