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Most equities markets in Europe returned to declines Friday even though there were predictions that an agreement on the rescue package for Greece could come as soon as Saturday.
The FTSE 100 was down 1.15 percent to 5,553.29 in London, while the FTSE 250 dropped 0.26 percent to 10,366.
Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC) led declines on the 100 and in London, falling 6.37 percent on its quarterly report.
Barclays’ net profits gained 29 percent overall in the first quarter, with net income up 4 percent and impairments down by 35 percent, but revenue at its Barclays Capital unit were down 26 percent in the quarter as revenues were at £3.8 billion rather than the £4.9 billion which had been anticipated.
The mining sector was mostly lower, hurt by concerns that Australia could impose a 40 percent tax on mining profits from operations there.
Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) did worst among miners listed in London, falling 4.36 percent, while Xstrata (LSE: XTA) was down 4.1 percent and Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) dropped 3.81 percent.
However, Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) was the biggest gainer on the 100 and led the three gainers in the sector higher as it added 3.04 percent, with Talvivaara Mining Company (LSE: TALV) up 2.15 percent and iron-ore miner Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) seeing a gain of 1.21 percent.
Over on the 250, environmental consultancy RPS Group (LSE: RPS) led the index and all of London as …
Read the original article at Fnancemarkets
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Tags: Capital, company, finance, Investments, markets, UK
