FTSE 100 falls slightly from oil and banking sectors

In London on Thursday, the FTSE 100 fell to 5,315.5 and the FTSE 250 lost 10.2 points to 7,685.6 on a volume of 2.7 billion shares traded.

The Bank of England’s decision to cut UK interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point had little effect on the markets, which had already compensated for the expected move.

The Royal Bank of Scotland lost 4.4 percent to £16.28 on a mixed report. This affected the rest of the sector with Barclays falling 0.5 percent to 559 ½p, Lloyds TSB losing 0.5 percent to 485 ½p and HSBC declining by 0.6 percent to 922p.

The overthrow of the president in Mauritania left most oil exploration companies down for the day. Tullow Oil fell 0.1 percent to 199 ½p and Dana Petroleum lost 2.4 percent to 722 ½p.

Even Premier Oil, which has no facilities in Mauritania, declined by 1.4 percent to 716 ½p. On the other hand, Hardman Resources was up 4.3 percent to 103p, while Sterling Energy gained 4 percent to 19 ½p.

Amvescap lost 11.3 percent to 369 ¼p after Canadian company CI Financial said it would not make a bid for the fund management firm.

Story link: FTSE 100 falls slightly from oil and banking sectors