		<div class="wpcnt">
			<div class="wpa">
				<span class="wpa-about">Advertisements</span>
				<div class="u top_amp">
							<amp-ad width="300" height="265"
		 type="pubmine"
		 data-siteid="111265417"
		 data-section="2">
		</amp-ad>
				</div>
			</div>
		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/debt-woes-force-footsie-decline.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="The FTSE 100 Index dropped 15.8 points to 5986.3" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/min-debt-woes-force-footsie-decline.jpg" alt="The FTSE 100 Index dropped 15.8 points to 5986.3"/></a></p>
<p>The FTSE 100 Index struggled to make progress on Monday as European debt woes once again weighed on the minds of investors.</p>
<p>No direction was provided from Wall Street as US markets shut for Martin Luther King Day while concerns over Chinese moves to curb inflation continued to hit mining stocks.</p>
<p>The Footsie dropped 15.8 points to 5986.3 as uncertainty mounted ahead of a meeting in Brussels where eurozone finance ministers will lock horns over how to fight their crippling debt crisis.</p>
<p>Concerns still remain over Portugal&#8217;s debt, despite a successful bond auction last week, as economists fear the country could follow Greece and Ireland and be forced to accept a bailout.</p>
<p>Barclays, which is heavily exposed to the Iberian peninsula, was down 1%, or 3.4p, at 307.7p, while Lloyds was down 1.3p at 68.3p and HSBC dropped 6.1p at 703.6p.</p>
<p>Miners added downward pressure as the sector was hit by worries over China&#8217;s decision to raise the reserve ratio requirement for its banks. Investors fear the fiscal tightening may curb the country&#8217;s demand for commodities.</p>
<p>Silver miner Fresnillo dropped more than 4%, losing 66.7p at 1425.3p, while copper miner Kazakhmys shed 30p at 1610p and Anglo-Australian group Rio Tinto lost 66p at 4370p.</p>
<p>BP saw a strong session after it unveiled a £10 billion deal with Russia&#8217;s Rosneft and takeover talk provided some cheer, but failed to lift the market out of the red. The oil giant added 3p to 502.5p following Friday&#8217;s announcement of an Arctic exploration alliance and share swap with Russian government-owned Rosneft.</p>
<p>Oil and gas exploration firms followed suit and posted gains, with Petrofac up 3.7p at 1618p and Centrica ahead 1.7p at 328.9p.</p>
<p>Smiths Group headed up the risers board with an 8% surge, ahead 103p to 1385p, following Friday&#8217;s after-close announcement that the firm had rejected a £2.45 billion cash approach for its medical arm.</p>
			<div style="padding-bottom:15px;" class="wordads-tag" data-slot-type="belowpost">
				<div id="atatags-dynamic-belowpost-69e24fd366a3a">
					<script type="text/javascript">
						window.getAdSnippetCallback = function () {
							if ( false === ( window.isWatlV1 ?? false ) ) {
								// Use Aditude scripts.
								window.tudeMappings = window.tudeMappings || [];
								window.tudeMappings.push( {
									divId: 'atatags-dynamic-belowpost-69e24fd366a3a',
									format: 'belowpost',
								} );
							}
						}

						if ( document.readyState === 'loading' ) {
							document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', window.getAdSnippetCallback );
						} else {
							window.getAdSnippetCallback();
						}
					</script>
				</div>
			</div>
Discover more from London Glossy Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
