By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks dropped on Monday, erasing
earlier gains as investors digested a disappointing report on
German business confidence.
Stress-tests results of 150 European banks, although showing
that most banks are well capitalized, didn't infuse confidence into
the market.
The FTSE 100 index dropped 0.4% to end at 6,363.46, after
closing out last week with a 1.2% gain. The slide came among a
wider selloff in Europe, spurred by the Ifo business-climate index
for Germany, which dropped to a 22-month low in October and by
weakness among banks. Read: Banks shares catch a cold even after
surviving health check
Bank shares fell in London, after the European Central Bank and
European Banking Authority stress-tests results were announced on
Sunday. All four U.K. banks under scrutiny passed the EBA's stress
tests, but Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG) passed only narrowly.
Lloyds shares erased 1.8% and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC
(RBS) fell 1.4%. Other U.K. banks also slipped, including Barclays
PLC (BCS), which lost 2%, while HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBC) gave up
1.2%.
Miners were also falling. Shares of Antofagasta PLC dropped
2.1%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) lost 0.9% and Anglo American PLC fell
0.9%.
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