UK Indexes Decline; Banks Fall

Mayank Mehta
16 Apr, 2010
New York City

UK stocks declined on the weakness in commodities prices. Airlines are bracing for $1 billion in lost revenues after the closure of northern European airports for the second day. Hargreaves Lansdown plc the fund manager assets under management increased 13%.

[R]4:00 PM London, 11:00 AM New York – UK stocks declined on the weakness in commodities prices. Airlines are bracing for $1 billion in lost revenues after the closure of northern European airports for the second day. Hargreaves Lansdown plc the fund manager assets under management increased 13%.[/R]

UK stocks declined along with indexes in Europe after commodities fell and U.S. indexes turned lower after the SEC sued Goldman Sachs.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 83.47 or 1.43% to 5,741.54 and the pound edged lower to close at $1.542 and to close at €1.141.

Banks and resource stocks led the decliners. Barclays fell 2.6%, HSBC Holdings Plc declined 2% and Standard Chartered Plc dropped 2.2%.

Royal Bank of Scotland surged 5.1% after a recommendation and target price revision to BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research.

Xstrata Plc declined 4.4%, Rio Tinto Group dropped 3.9% and Anglo American Plc fell 3%.

Gainers & Losers

Aggreko PLC decreased 0.4% to 1,184.00 pence after the temporary power and temperature control provider expects first quarter revenues rose 5% on a headline basis and 8% in constant currency and excluding pass-through fuel. International Power Projects revenues rose 8% excluding pass-through fuel.

Autonomy Corporation plc fell 3.8% to 1,779.00 pence after the Cambridge-based enterprise software reported record first quarter results in line with market views.

Aveva Group Plc dropped 3.0% to 1,197.00 pence after the engineering data and IT systems provider expects that full year results will be marginally ahead of current consensus market forecasts.

British Airways Plc decreased 3.1% after most of the airports in northern Europe were closed for the second day.

The British Land Company PLC advanced 1.3% to 489.40 pence after the property company today announces that it has agreed to purchase 2 - 14 Baker Street, London W1 for redevelopment, from McAleer & Rushe for £29 million.

Hargreaves Lansdown plc the fund manager added 3.9% to 376.90 pence after the company said assets under management increased 13%.

Hansteen Holdings PLC rose 0.6% to 80.00 pence after the property investment group, the investor in UK and continental European real estate has exchanged contracts to acquire a 1.221 million sq ft multi-sector portfolio of 61 freehold and leasehold assets from various subsidiaries of Kilmartin Holdings Limited.

Thomas Cook Group plc rose 0.1% to 267.80 pence after the travel firm today announced that it has successfully launched and priced a €400 million, 5-year Euro bond with an annual coupon of 6.75% maturing in June 2015 and a £300 million, 7-year Sterling bond with an annual coupon of 7.75% maturing in June 2017.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 22 increased, 80 declined and none were unchanged.

Autonomy Corporation Plc decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 5.68% followed by losses in Xstrata Plc of 4.14%, in Kazakhmys Plc of 3.47%, in Antofagasta Plc of 3.37%, and in Rio Tinto Plc of 3.31%.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 6.81% followed by increase in The Capita Group Plc of 2.14%, in Intertek Group Plc of 1.56%, in Serco Group Plc of 1.13%, and in GlaxoSmithKline Plc of 0.90%.