MW:Resources pull U.K. stocks lower as oil tumbles
By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.K. stocks headed lower on Friday, as falling commodity prices weighed on resources stocks, while the broader market tracked losses globally following disappointing comments from the U.S. and a fresh Spanish downgrade.
The FTSE 100 index UK:UKX -0.74% dropped 1% to 5,392.27, poised to break a two-day winning streak.
Oil firms weighed on the index as oil futures for July delivery CLN2 -2.61% lost $2.65, or 3.1%, to $82.17 a barrel. BP PLC UK:BP -1.27% BP +0.76% slipped 1.2%, BG Group PLC UK:BG -1.14% fell 1.8% and Royal Dutch Shell PLC UK:RDSA -1.56% UK:RDSB -1.29% RDS.A -0.08% RDS.B +0.09% gave up 1.3%.
Most metals prices were also on the decline, adding pressure on U.K. miners. Vedanta Resources PLC UK:VED -4.01% lost 4.9%, Rio Tinto PLC UK:RIO -4.02% RIO +3.84% slid 4.3% and BHP Billiton PLC UK:BLT -2.80% BHP +1.88% fell 3.3%.
Banks in the U.K. tracked losses for the sector in Europe, where stocks slumped following a downgrade of Spain’s credit rating to BBB from A as well as disappointing comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The Fed chairman said in testimony before Congress Thursday that the central bank stands ready to act if the European crisis deepens, but didn’t give concrete hints of further stimulus. Investors had hoped for signals of additional easing action.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC RBS +3.86% lost 4.2%, Barclays PLC UK:BARC -2.70% BCS +1.44% fell 3.9% and HSBC Holdings PLC UK:HSBA -1.03% HBC +1.10% was off 1.7%.
Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London.