London close: Euro concerns drag Footsie into the red

16th Dec 2011 17:04

London's blue chip index took a late tumble late on to finished slightly in the red on a choppy day's trade. European bourses finished broadly down as worries over the Eurozone continue to dampen the mood.EUROZONE WORRIES CONTINUE France may have entered a recession this quarter which will last until the end of the first quarter next year and will complicate achieving its 1% growth target for 2012, according to the country's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE). Rumours are flying in the market of a possible Standard & Poor's downgrade for Italy and Spain today, although France will maintain its triple A rating, according to RANsquawk. However, the agency with over 15,000 "market listeners" emphasises that this is just unsubstantiated "market talk". Nonetheless, both Spain and Italy fill the headlines today. The UK will be included in technical discussions on re-shaping the Eurozone after the President of The European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, called the British Prime Minister David Cameron last night. According to the well-respected Press Association Mr Van Rompuy and Mr Cameron agreed that British officials would attend EU meetings to be held over the coming months to flesh out the agreement that Mr Cameron vetoed last Friday. Elsewhere, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti won a confidence vote to approve a €30bn emergency budget plan. In other news, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund has said that the world is facing similar threats seen in the Depression: "economic retraction, rising protectionism, isolation and...what happened in the 30s," said Christine Lagarde. "There is no economy in the world, whether low-income countries, emerging markets, middle-income countries or super-advanced economies that will be immune to the crisis that we see not only unfolding but escalating," she said in a speech in Washington. ESSAR ENERGY DROPS WHILE MINERS JUMPIndia-focused Essar Energy led the falls on the top share index; some investors may be disappointed by the fact that the Reserve Bank of India kept its policy rates unchanged today, which may be behind the weakness seen in the rupee. Man Group dropped after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock from buy to sell. The miners were the best performers on Friday, with stocks averaging gains of nearly 1% as metals prices recover from their recent plunge. Speculation that the People's Bank of China could cut banks' reserve ratios this evening may be behind the strength in miners, according to some analysts.Copper giant Kazakhmys after a $1.5bn loan facility signed for the Aktogay copper project in East Kazakhstan meant that it has now secured funding for all of its development projects. Sector peer Antofagasta was the best riser on the Footsie though, gaining nearly 4%. Xstrata, Fresnillo, Rio Tinto and ENRC were also in demand. FTSE 250 MOVERSSports clothing firm Sports Direct was the high riser of the day after announcing that it has withdrawn its offer for Blacks Leisure after the outdoor leisurewear and equipment chain put itself up for sale earlier this month. Blacks however, took a tumble.Foods group Premier Foods rose strongly after announcing last night that it is offloading four of its Irish brands - Chivers, Gateaux, McDonnells and Erin - to The Boyne Valley Group for €41.4m. Waste group Shanks was the heavy faller of the day after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock from buy to neutral. BCFTSE 100 - RisersAntofagasta (ANTO) 1,172.00p +3.72%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 874.00p +3.19%G4S (GFS) 257.80p +2.79%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,553.00p +2.71%Xstrata (XTA) 970.00p +2.32%Capita Group (CPI) 624.00p +2.04%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,515.00p +2.04%Old Mutual (OML) 126.00p +1.86%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 20.00p +1.83%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 622.00p +1.80%FTSE 100 - FallersEssar Energy (ESSR) 184.90p -4.54%Man Group (EMG) 127.60p -4.42%Investec (INVP) 326.10p -3.52%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,325.00p -3.00%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 422.50p -2.85%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 291.10p -2.84%International Power (IPR) 319.80p -2.11%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 99.60p -1.87%Land Securities Group (LAND) 613.50p -1.76%Inmarsat (ISAT) 396.80p -1.71%FTSE 250 - RisersSports Direct International (SPD) 210.00p +10.53%Carpetright (CPR) 516.50p +8.17%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 467.90p +6.17%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 267.30p +5.24%Ashtead Group (AHT) 209.60p +5.12%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 598.00p +4.91%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 160.00p +4.44%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 403.00p +4.35%AG Barr (BAG) 1,232.00p +4.14%Premier Foods (PFD) 5.95p +4.02%FTSE 250 - FallersShanks Group (SKS) 95.10p -6.31%Booker Group (BOK) 69.40p -5.90%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 421.00p -5.05%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,618.00p -4.80%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 115.40p -4.63%Regus (RGU) 79.25p -4.52%UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 65.10p -4.26%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 62.55p -4.14%Rank Group (RNK) 124.00p -4.10%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 951.50p -4.08%