FTSE 100 falls again in early trading
Thursday 5th March 2009, 9:20AM GMT.
The FTSE 100 continued its slump in early trading, falling 35 points to 3,610.53, by 08:50 GMT led by insurance and mining stocks.
Admiral Group dropped 4.31 per cent to 865.50p, while Aviva, which reported net losses of £885 million for 2008, fell 2.89 per cent to 276.75p.
Mining firm Johnson Matthey fell 2.68 per cent, while BHP Billiton dropped 2.65 per cent.
A handful of stocks were rising on the index, including property group Hammerson, which was up by 2.89 per cent and building supply firm Wolseley, which rose 2.26 per cent.
Overnight, US stocks rallied to break a five-day slump on a Chinese stimulus plan, which boosted commodity prices.
The Dow Jones closed up 2.2 per cent, while the S&P 500 rose 2.4 per cent.
Investors will be watching out for the Bank of England’s interest rate announcement at midday today.
Another cut is expected, with rates of between zero and 0.5 per cent predicted. However, analysts are also waiting to see if the Bank decides to embark on quantitative easing, as is widely expected.
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
Entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
