LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Falls To 1-month Low As Fading 'Trump Trade' Hits Banks
March 27 2017 - 4:27AM
Dow Jones News
By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
Analyst: Setback for health bill in U.S. 'doesn't mean anything
good'
U.K. stocks fell for a second straight session on Monday, driven
lower by resource stocks and banks on the back of falling commodity
prices and fears the so-called Trump trade is dwindling.
The FTSE 100 index dropped 0.8% to 7,280.75, setting it on track
for its lowest close since Feb. 28, according to FactSet data.
The decline continues on a theme from last week, when the London
index posted its biggest weekly loss since January amid concerns
over U.S. President Donald Trump's failure to push through a
health-care bill. The S&P 500 index ended with its biggest
weekly loss since the U.S. election in November, and U.S. stock
futures continued sharply lower on Monday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-futures-slide-more-than-150-points-as-doubts-over-trumps-agenda-build-2017-03-27).
"Given that the global indices had been inflated by the
president's various promises, it is no surprise that the reaction
to his 'Trumpcare' failure has been so vitriolic. Investors likely
don't care one bit about the state of America's health care; they
do care, however, about what this defeat means for his ability to
push through the more market-relevant vows, namely tax reform and
infrastructure spending," said Connor Campbell, financial analyst
at Spreadex, in a note.
"It certainly doesn't mean anything good, with Trump seemingly
unable to unite the Republican Party as a law-making entity," he
added.
Banks in particular had been invigorated by the Trump-inspired
"reflation trade," in which investors have bet on higher inflation,
rising interest rates and stronger economic growth. As the Trump
rally has faded, financials have been among the biggest decliners.
In Monday's trade, shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LLOY.LN)
(LLOY.LN) fell 2.4%, Barclays fell 2.4% and HSBC Holdings PLC
(HSBA.LN) (HSBA.LN) (HSBA.LN) gave up 0.9%.
Energy and mining companies were also declining, tracking oil
and copper prices lower. Crude dropped 0.8% as concerns over rising
U.S. rig counts outweighed chatter that the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries may extend its production cuts.
Oil majors BP PLC (BP.LN) (BP.LN) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC
(RDSB.LN) (RDSB.LN) fell 1% and 1.1%, respectively.
Among miners, Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN) lost 3%, while BHP Billiton
PLC (BLT.LN) (BHP.AU) dropped 2.1%.
BT Group PLC (BT.A.LN) gave up 1.3% after the telecom giant was
fined GBP42 million
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bt-fined-42-million-pounds-over-openreach-failings-2017-03-27)
($52.5 million) over contract and regulatory breaches by its
infrastructure business Openreach.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 27, 2017 04:12 ET (08:12 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
FTSE 100
Index Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
FTSE 100
Index Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024