Stocks either shone or copped a battering today as the FTSE 100 slid lower despite a solid start on Wall Street. The index closed for the Easter holidays down 50.40 points (0.91%) to 5495.20.
Miners were punished on the combination of plummeting gold and metal prices. Anglo American fell 8.11% to 2673, Antofagasta dipped 6.68% to 622 and Xstrata was 6.27% lower to 3483. Weaker oil prices also smashed Cairn and Tullow, down 6.56% to 2535 and 6.23% to 617.50 respectively. Pest control firm Rentokil soared on news its chairman and chief executive had resigned, up a monster 17.45% to 85.50. Taylor Wimpey climbed 7.76% to 163.80, while lender Alliance & Leicester jumped 7.28% to 538. HBOS also bounced back from yesterday’s false emergency funding rumours, up 6.16% to 473.75. In...
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