London shares close lower as downbeat Wall St adds to weak miners, oils |
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Fri, 16 Feb 2007 18:03
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LONDON (AFX) - Leading shares ended lower as a weak early session on Wall Street added to sharp falls in in heavyweight miners and oil stocks on the back of volatile as energy prices, dealers said.At the close, the FTSE 100 index was 13.8 points lower at 6,419.5, having fallen back from midmorning highs of 6,439.2, while the broader indices were mixed.Volume was thin, with 2.4 bln shares changing hands in 394,461 deals.Meanwhile, Wall Street slipped in opening deals as a plunge in new housing starts and a sales warning from Microsoft prompted investors to sell ahead of a holiday weekend.Investors remained cautious after economic data released before the market opened showed a bigger-than-expected drop in the construction of new homes.Meanwhile, wholesale prices fell in January by the largest amount in three months amid retreating energy prices.By London's close, the DJIA was down 19.10 at 12,45.90.Back in London, miners helped to drag blue chips lower after the Chinese central bank again raised its reserve requirement, heightening concerns over demand in the region.'This will increase fears that growth in China, which has fuelled the boom in commodity prices, could be capped and send prices lower,' a London-based trader said.Vedanta Resources fell back 18 pence at 1,286, Antofagasta slipped 3-1/2 at 485, Rio Tinto lost 35 at 2,799, and BHP was down 5-1/2 at 1,089-1/2.newsdesk@afxnews.comrn/tcCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2006. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited
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AFX European summary 