Banking stocks weigh on FTSE 100
Thursday, 04 Sep 2008 17:24
FTSE 100 closes lower
The Bank of England's decision to hold interest rates sent banking shares lower, leading to a 2.5 per cent fall on the FTSE 100.
The Central Bank kept the interest rate at five per cent, dashing hopes of a cut, which would make borrowing cheaper.
HBOS shares fell 6.84 per cent to 282.5p, while Barclays fell six per cent to 329.25p and Lloyds TSB was down 5.68 per cent.
Shares in miners also fell, as metal prices stayed low. Ferrexpo slipped 6.27 per cent to 198p while Eurasian Natural Resources fell 5.47 per cent to 872p.
Unilever finished higher, with shares up 6.17 per cent to £15.82 after the market responded favourably to its choice of former Nestle executive Paul Polman as its next chief executive.
Shares in insurer Friends Provident were also tracking higher at 1.11 per cent to 130p on takeover talk.
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