(RTTNews) - The UK market is falling in afternoon trading Wednesday, led by banks and miners. Stocks shrugged off positive cues from Asian markets, which were cheered by strong quarterly results from chip maker Intel in the U.S. Crude for August delivery is trading lower by $0.47 per barrel at $76.68 ahead of the release of the weekly inventory data from the Energy Information Administration, and gold is declining $5.7 an ounce at $1207.8.
In economic news, in the U.K., the consumer confidence index dropped to 63 in June from 66 in May, the Nationwide Building Society said. That matched a reading recorded twelve months ago, but came better than the expected reading of 62.
The Office for National Statistics said the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in the U.K. fell by 20,800 to 1.46 million in June from May. The decline was larger than the expected drop of 20,000. The claimant count rate decreased to 4.5% from 4.6% in May, matching economists' expectations.
In the euro area, on a working-day adjusted basis, industrial production rose 9.4% year-on-year in May compared to a 9.6% increase in the previous month. Economists were expecting a growth rate of 11.4%.
Eurostat confirmed that eurozone consumer price inflation eased to 1.4% in June from 1.6% recorded in May. Inflation was negative 0.1% last year.
The FTSE 100 opened at 5,271. The index has been moving in a range of 5,225-5,287, and is currently losing 0.70%.
Interdealer broker Icap, which reported a 5% rise in first-quarter adjusted pre-tax profit, is losing 5.24%, followed by luxury retailer Burberry Group, which is dropping 3.29%.
Banks Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC Holdings are declining between 1.89% and 1.03%. However, Barclays is gaining 0.53%. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is meeting in Switzerland to frame new capital rules.
Cairn Energy is declining 2.67% and BP is dropping 1.98%. BG Group and Tullow Oil are sliding 1.82% each.
Miners Vedanta Resouces, Antofagasta, Xstrata, Kazakhmys, Eurasian Natural Resources and BHP Billiton are declining between 2.4% and 1.1%.
Chip maker Arm Holdings is adding 2.91%, buoyed by good news from Intel. British Sky Broadcasting, Sage group, Compass group, Smith & Nephew and Home Retail are witnessing moderate gains.
Across Asia/Pacific, most major markets ended in positive territory. Australia's All Ordinaries added 1.76%, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.82% and Japan's Nikkei 225 expanded 2.71%. However, India's BSE Sensex lost 0.27%.
