By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.K. stocks headed lower on Wednesday, as oil firms tracked oil prices lower, while banks rose on news of looser capital rules.
The FTSE 100 index UK:UKX -0.50% slipped 0.3% to 5,794.79.
Banks posted the biggest gains in the index after the Financial Times said that the Financial Services Authority has eased capital rules for the biggest banks in an effort to boost lending.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC UK:LLOY +3.15% LYG -1.27% gained 3.7%, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC UK:RBS +1.09% RBS -1.56% added 2.3% and Barclays PLC UK:BARC +0.70% BCS -1.19% picked up 1%.
Mining firms were also moving higher. Anglo American PLC UK:AAL +0.66% added 1.5%, Rio Tinto PLC UK:RIO -0.15% RIO +0.29% AU:RIO +0.23% gained 0.8% and BHP Billiton PLC UK:BLT -0.44% BHP -0.28% AU:BHP +0.03% advanced 0.3%.
Oil firms, however, added pressure in London, as oil prices were on the decline. See: Oil falls in Asia on dollar strength
BG Group PLC UK:BG -0.92% lost 1%, Royal Dutch Shell PLC UK:RDSB -0.95% RDS.B -0.91% fell 0.6% and BP PLC UK:BP -0.84% BP -0.57% gave up 0.6%.
Smith & Nephew PLC UK:SN -2.68% fell 1.8% after Societe Generale initiated coverage of the medical-equipment firm with a sell recommendation, citing an unappealing valuation.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC UK:GSK -0.59% GSK -1.62% dropped 0.6%. Its vaccines division agreed with biotech group Aeras to jointly assess an experimental tuberculosis vaccine.
Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London.
