London close: Stocks dive on euro worries

9th Sep 2011 16:55

The volatility continued heading into the weekend and stocks were nursing hefty losses at the close of play.The resignation of European Central Bank official Juergen Stark brought the Eurozone crisis into focus. Stark, a German, like many of his compatriots is unhappy about the Bank's policy of buying bonds of troubled eurozone countries such as Spain and Italy. Banks were in the firing line again, with Barclays down nearly 10%. Airlines were on the descent too, with British Airways owner IAG and budget carrier easyJet also suffering. Vedanta led miners lower.Motor insurer Admiral is in the slow lane after saying it could see "a small proportion" of its profits put at risk under the government's plans to ban the payment of referral fees to insurers. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced that it plans to tackle rising insurance costs by placing abolishing the fees, as part of its commitment to curb 'compensation culture'. Referral fees account for 6% of Admiral's UK car insurance profit before tax.But Tullow Oil gushed higher after a joint venture it operates made an oil discovery at its Zeadyus exploration well, 150km offshore French Guiana. Shares surged over 8% in the opening minutes after its chief executive said, "The discovery at Zaedyus has proved the extension of the Jubilee-play across the Atlantic and made an important new discovery in French Guiana."Tullow owns 27.5% of the licence. North Petroleum and Wessex Exploration, which own 50% each of a joint venture with a 2.5% interest in the licence, have gushed higher. Shares of Investec edged higher after its announcement of a recommended offer for Evolution Securities, valuing the investment banking and stockbroking firm at £233.2m. Evolution's shares were given a boost early on.FTSE 250 oil and gas group Salamander Energy fell into the red after increasing its stake in Block G4/50, one of the largest blocks of prospective acreage in the Gulf of Thailand.Pubs group JD Wetherspoon saw shares drop after announcing that while like-for-like sales grew by 2.1% in the year to 24 July, the growth rate has slowed to 0.4% in the six weeks to 4 September.Multi-metal mining colossus Rio Tinto was lower after saying that it is to invest $310m to assure a sustainable water supply for its iron ore operations in Pilbara, Western Australia.Oil explorer Petrod Matad has terminated production at its Davsan Tolgoi-10 well after failing to encounter moveable hydocarbons. The project, situated between the group's Shoroo and Gal prospects, targeted two objectives, but no shows were observed in either, while analysis of the area indicates only thin scattered zones of probable residual oil. FTSE 100 - RisersTullow Oil (TLW) 1,413.00p +15.16%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 683.50p +2.17%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,076.00p +0.78%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,070.00p +0.43%Fresnillo (FRES) 2,150.00p +0.14%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 2,518.00p +0.04%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,993.00p 0.00%Next (NXT) 2,347.00p -0.04%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 602.50p -0.17%G4S (GFS) 264.00p -0.23%FTSE 100 - FallersBarclays (BARC) 144.00p -9.43%ITV (ITV) 52.50p -6.33%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 152.00p -6.29%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,362.00p -6.13%Xstrata (XTA) 987.10p -5.90%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 31.04p -5.65%Aviva (AV.) 302.70p -5.64%Man Group (EMG) 216.20p -5.63%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 21.50p -5.45%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,018.00p -5.39%FTSE 250 - RisersExillon Energy (EXI) 256.10p +11.20%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 365.30p +5.88%JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 181.50p +5.52%Ocado Group (OCDO) 113.60p +4.70%Kofax (KFX) 309.30p +3.44%ITE Group (ITE) 184.30p +2.96%Pennon Group (PNN) 672.50p +2.67%Charter International (CHTR) 804.00p +2.55%AZ Electronic Materials SA (WI) (AZEM) 240.10p +2.08%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 510.00p +1.90%FTSE 250 - FallersHome Retail Group (HOME) 106.80p -9.34%Inchcape (INCH) 275.20p -6.71%Cookson Group (CKSN) 434.90p -6.17%Invensys (ISYS) 235.00p -5.89%easyJet (EZJ) 310.30p -5.88%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 576.00p -5.34%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 264.40p -5.33%Yule Catto & Co (YULC) 170.60p -5.33%Misys (MSY) 275.10p -5.30%Pace (PIC) 105.00p -5.23%