FTSE Ends October on a Bloody Note

The U.K. blue chip index was dunked back into the claret on Halloween as comments from the OECD and a bankruptcy in the broader financials sector weighed

Holly Cook 31 October, 2011 | 6:01PM
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London-listed shares suffered a horrible fate on Halloween, the final day of October, though stocks remain firmly in the black for the month as a whole. The primary causes of Monday’s decline were a filing for bankruptcy by the broker-dealer MF Global Holdings and cautionary remarks about global growth from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.

The FTSE 100 index closed 158 points weaker, a fall of 2.8%, at 5,544. The U.K.’s blue chip index remains 8% over the month of October and before today’s dismal session was a little over 3% lower year-to-date. The FTSE 250 index suffered a similar fate on Monday, sliding 293 points or 2.7% to 10,480, and is now 3.4% lower so far this year.

The OECD said slow growth and a weak labour market could continue in advanced economies for two years and warned that economic conditions would deteriorate if European leaders fail to resolve the region's sovereign debt problems or if U.S. fiscal policy tightens excessively. The OEDC called on leaders of the Group of 20 industrialised and developing nations to take bold action to bolster global growth.

Meanwhile, MF Global (MF) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today after plans to sell itself to Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR) fell through. The broker-dealer's CEO Jon Corzine, who previously served as governor of New Jersey and CEO of Goldman Sachs, raced this weekend to finalise the deal, which fell apart in talks last night. The declaration of bankruptcy comes after the Federal Reserve Bank of New York suspended MF Global from conducting business with the bank. The company's shares were halted ahead of the release of the news, following a 16% drop during trading Friday. Shares are down 71% this month and 86% in 2011. MF Global reported it owes approximately $39.7 billion and had assets of roughly $41.1 billion.

Intervention by the Japanese government into the forex market in an attempt to check the recent strength of the Japanese yen had the knock-on effect of strengthening the U.S. dollar. Thus demand for commodities priced in dollars weakened Monday and companies tied to natural resources saw their share prices suffer. Concerns over China’s levels of demand also weighed on the sector, such that Vedanta Resources (VED) led the casualties with a 9.0% drop, and Kazakhmys (KAZ) and Xstrata (XTA) also marked substantial losses, down 8.8% and 7.7%, respectively.

Miners and their fellow natural resource plays weren’t the only casualties, however.

Financials were also under the cosh as investor caution crept back into the markets ahead of Thursday’s G20 summit, following which it is hoped more precise details about the plan to tackle eurozone debt will be revealed. Sentiment was also hampered by the news of MF’s demise.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) fell back 7.8%, while Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) lost 7.5%. Even Barclays (BARC), which today reported a 5% increase in underlying quarterly profit, had slipped 2.9% by close of play.

The FTSE 100 risers could be counted on one hand. Among them, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was the top performer, albeit with a gain of just 1.2%, as investors tapped into defensives.

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Holly Cook

Holly Cook  is Manager, Morningstar EMEA Websites

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