Britain's index of leading shares continued its journey south on Thursday as sentiment was dented by disappointing data from Asia.
It comes after earlier the Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced it was to mirror the US and start bond buying in a bid to stimulate the economy.
The Footsie was down 44 points to stand at 5,844, having closed Wednesday's session at 5,888.
Head of research at Accendo markets, Mike Van Dulken, noted this morning:
“Even the Bank of Japan joining the global quantitative easing (QE) party wasn’t enough to keep the equity train riding north.
“It would appear that while all QE is equal (in objective), some are more equal than others.”
He said markets had shunned risk after another round of weak manufacturing data from China and a fall in French business activity.
“The fear is that Germany and Eurozone figures follow suit. However, I still see this as a natural shake-out of the recent rally, all in the name of providing a platform for the 3/4-month uptrend to continue,” he said.
Back at home, UK retail sales fell by 0.2 per cent month-on-month in August, according to official data.
Consensus had it falling by 0.3 per cent. In year-on-year terms total retail sales grew by 2.7 per cent, compared to consensus of 2.9 per cent.
ITV (LON:ITV) was the biggest gainer on the top flight, up 1.79 per cent, at 91.10 pence. Imperial Tobacco (LON:IMT) was up 1.07 per cent, at 2,361 pence.
The biggest faller was steel maker Evraz (LON:EVR), down 4.25 pct, at 265.7 pence.
US Markets
US stock market futures look primed for a day of losses as data from China compiled fears that the global economy is getting worse, not better.
A Chinese manufacturing survey showed an eleventh month of contraction in September, while Japan’s exports fell in August, it was revealed.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index both slipped 0.4% before the opening bell on Wall Street.
Bank of America shed 1.4% in pre-market deals after announcing it is speeding up its cost-cutting plans by culling 16,000 from its workforce by the end of the year.
Moving the other way before the open, sportswear giant Nike rose 0.86% on the news its board has given a new US$8 bln share buyback plan over the next four years the go-ahead.
UK Corporate News
Just as the South African mine strikes looked set to come to a conclusion, more violence broke out at Anglo American’s (LON:AAL) platinum mine at Rustenberg and only a small minority of miners have returned to work.
“The company continues to be disappointed with the low turnout rate at four of its Rustenburg mines which are currently reporting less than 20% attendance,” said the company.
Anglo warned the strikers to resume work by today’s night shift.
Shares fell almost 5% to 1,938.5 pence on the news.
Nearby Lonmin (LON:LMI) also fell 4.9% despite its striking miners returning to work at the Marikana platinum complex.
Reports emerged today that oil giant BP (LON:BP.) is close to selling its 50% stake in Russian venture TNK-BP to state-owned Rosneft.
The terms of the deal would see BP take a 12.5% stake in Rosneft worth about US$10 bln and US$15 bln in cash, Russian newspaper Kommersant said.
Satellite broadcaster BSkyB’s (LON:BSY) shares climbed 1% after regulator Ofcom ruled that it was “fit and proper” to hold a licence in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.
Ofcom did however condemn James Murdoch, the company’s former chairman, for his role in the scandal.