First falls in a week as financials hit FTSE

London's blue chip index was down more than 21 points, or 0.48%, to 4,460, led by the London Stock Exchange Group, which goes ex-dividend today. Barclays, Man Group and Standard Life were also bottom five performers this morning, down 2.2% to £3.03, 1.7% to £2.75 and 1.59% to £1.92 respectively. In the US, the Dow Jones closed up 67.8 points, 0.77%, at 8,915, despite a sudden drop earlier in the day sparked by comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke about the prospects of a US economic recovery. However, better-than-expected Q2 results from mining equipment producer Cat...