LONDON – The FTSE 100 fell on Wednesday as miners, luxury stocks and Standard Chartered came under pressure for a second straight session.
The FTSE 100 fell 66.50 points, or 1.1 percent to 5,895.81 by 0919 GMT, edging into negative territory for the week following a strong rally last week which was the biggest weekly gain for the index this year.
Standard Chartered was the biggest faller on the index for a sector straight session, after the Asia-exposed bank slumped to its first loss is 26 years.
It fell 6.4 percent after a spate of broker target price downgrades from Deutsche Bank, Bank of America/Merrill Lync and Nomura following the results, taking losses since it reported results to over 10 percent.
“The continued weak revenue momentum in 4Q15 was worse than anticipated,” analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note.
“Until revenue momentum turns, we think it too early to turn positive on the shares.”
Mining stocks also fell again, with BHP Billiton, Glencore and Anglo American down 5-6 percent.
The mining sector was the top sectoral faller, down for a second straight session after rallying to its highest level since November, having hit 12-1/2 year lows in January.
BHP Billiton also slumped after results in the previous session when it slashed its dividend. While some banks raised their target price on the stock, traders said the results had called time on the sectors rally for now.
“Mining stocks…(are) still suffering in light of BHP Billiton’s hacked dividend on Tuesday,” Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex, said in a note.
Burberry dropped 3.7 percent, taking falls since Tuesday to over 7 percent, as the luxury sector continued to come under pressure following a poorly received update from peer Hugo Boss.
Housebuilders were among the top gainers, after well-received from Barrat Developments, which continued to boost sentiment in the sector to follow in the footsteps of Persimmon, which rose after results on Tuesday.
While commodity stocks were broadly under pressure again, some mid-cap energy services firms rose after results. Petrofac rose 7 percent after reporting a record order book and Weir Group was up 4 percent after its mineral division came in better than expected.
