London close: Miners dominate fallers as global worries continue

16th Jun 2011 16:45

Global growth worries dampened the markets on Thursday as all but a few constituents on the FTSE 100 finished in the red. While the Footsie edged higher in the late afternoon, it still closed under the 5,700 level, a level not seen since mid-March. FTSE 100 closed down 44 at 5,699.A lack of clarity on the Greek situation caused concerns over global growth, and as such, the demand for commodities. Miners were dominant among the fallers, with Lonmin, Kazakhmys, ENRC, Randgold and Vedanta among the worst performers.Meanwhile, the big mover of the day was Laird on the FTSE 250, which rocketed after the electronic components manufacturer rejected an all-cash 185p-a-share takeover proposal from US rival Cooper Industries. Laird makes antennae for mobile phones and other telecommunications-related electronic products. Cooper, which employs 2,100 people in the UK, hopes to combine Laird with its Bussman Division. Retailers were on the decline as May retail sales disappointed. Tesco, Morrison, Kingfisher, Dixons and Sports Direct finished lower.The banking sector was broadly lower as concerns over the ring-fencing situation continued to worry investors. It was announced yesterday that British banks are to be forced to ring-fence their retail and investment operations. The idea is to protect high street bank customers losing their savings if investment bankers suffer heavy losses, as they did during the financial crisis of 2008. Barclays, RBS and HSBC were unwanted. Lloyds and Standard Chartered finished slightly higher, though.Cairn Energy was unwanted after announcing that its chairman Norman Murray is set to step down from the board at the beginning of July, with current chief executive Sir Bill Gammell moving up to replace him. Electrical components distributor Premier Farnell saw shares take a tumble despite saying sales levels have rebounded above those it was achieving ahead of the global downturn as it posted a rise in revenues and profits. Plant hire group Ashtead reported full year pre-tax profit in line with expectations and said it is confident demand for rentals will provide further growth. Nevertheless, investors seemed underwhelmed as shares dropped by over 7%. ---BCFTSE 100 - RisersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 48.05p +0.74%Capita Group (CPI) 744.50p +0.68%Glencore International (GLEN) 475.80p +0.59%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 324.70p +0.34%Vodafone Group (VOD) 160.00p +0.22%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,558.00p +0.10%G4S (GFS) 279.10p +0.07%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 362.10p +0.03%FTSE 100 - FallersLonmin (LMI) 1,382.00p -3.42%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,240.00p -3.28%GKN (GKN) 202.10p -3.07%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,694.00p -2.98%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 723.00p -2.82%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,580.00p -2.78%ARM Holdings (ARM) 561.50p -2.69%Essar Energy (ESSR) 418.80p -2.54%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,935.00p -2.42%Inmarsat (ISAT) 571.50p -2.31%