FTSE 100 opens down, financial stocks rally

Friday, 13 June 2008 12:00

Financial stocks rallied this morning, after falls yesterday on the FTSE 100.

Despite the uplift for banking stocks, the index opened down this morning at 5735.60, a decline of 54.9 points.

HBOS shares opened at 310p, an improvement from last night's price of 283p. Stock in the bank is trading above its rights price of 275p again, having dipped below over the last few days.

The uplift reflects a decision from the FSA to clamp down on short sellers, to prevent stocks falling in value to a level below that at which they were offered as part of the company's rights issue.

House builder Persimmon, which will leave the FTSE 100 on Monday 23rd after a decline in its share value, fought back this morning with a 2.8 per cent rise to 383.25p.

Alliance & Leicester, also ejected from the index after the quarterly reshuffle, gained 2.7 per cent this morning to 313.75p.

British Airways was the biggest faller in early trading, shedding 9.5 points to trade at 230.5p.

The London Stock Exchange itself was another casualty, falling 3.3 per cent to 871.50p.

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