By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- Sentiment eroded further in London on
Tuesday, with mining and some banking stocks driving the losses.
But Lloyds Banking Group PLC and BP PLC rose on earnings
reports.
The FTSE 100 index fell 0.5% to 6,428.60, looking at a gain for
the month of around 0.3%. The index closed up 0.5% on the prior
session.
London stocks moved a leg lower after a gauge of manufacturing
in the Chicago area slid to a more-than-three-year low in April,
while the S&P/Case Shiller home price index rose 0.3% in
February and U.S. stocks traded mostly lower.
On the upside in London, shares of Lloyds (LYG) rose 2.4% after
the bank said it swung to a hefty profit in the first quarter of
the year, with impairment charges dropping off and no need to put
money aside to cover the misselling of payment protection insurance
products.
Also higher, shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS)
rose 3.8%. The company is due to report first-quarter results on
Friday.
However, shares of heavyweight Barclays PLC (BCS) fell 2%, and
Standard Chartered PLC dropped 1%.
Shares of BP (BP) rose 2% after the oil major posted a
more-than-threefold rise in profit for the first quarter, driven by
proceeds from the sale of its Russian joint venture TNK-BP that
offset a fall in oil and gas production and downtime at a key
Indiana refinery.
On the downside in London, shares of Centrica PLC fell 3% after
the utility was cut to underperform from neutral by Credit Suisse,
which said trading conditions for its British Gas unit have
deteriorated. It noted that Centrica shares have performed well in
the last 18 months.
Shares of heavyweight Unilever PLC fell 1% after the company
said it will raise its stake in Hindustan Unilever, its India
subsidiary, from 52.48% to up to 75%, spending around 4.1 billion
euros ($5.4 billion).
Also on the downside, plenty of heavily weighted mining stocks
were selling off. BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) fell nearly 3%, while Rio
Tinto PLC (RIO) fell 2.4%. Shares of Anglo American PLC fell
3.3%.
Away from the main index, shares of Invensys PLC rose nearly 4%
after Société Générale upgraded shares to buy from hold, citing an
improved investment profile and potential upside from merger and
acquisition activity.
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