FTSE dragged down by China fears

The FTSE 100 Index has struggled to find direction as heavily-weighted banks and commodity stocks dragged the market lower.

Sentiment was also held back by concerns ahead of the release of Chinese inflation figures this weekend, with news of an unexpected jump in China exports adding to worries it will take moves to rein in inflation.

With little else in the way of corporate news, the Footsie held firm to its opening mark – down 9.5 points to 5798.4.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street was heading for modest gains, according to futures trading, although it failed to finish higher overnight despite news of a drop in claims for unemployment benefits.

In London, Asian-focused bank Standard Chartered continued its descent after falls yesterday on concerns over issues flagged up in its trading update. Investors were left unsettled by its admission that costs were rising faster than revenues, with share falls compounded today after broker Bank of America Merrill Lynch lowered its rating on the bank. Shares in the group fell 53.5p to 1756.5p.

Fellow banking giants joined it on the fallers board, with Royal Bank of Scotland down 0.3p to 42p. And BP was among a number of commodity firms lower, down 4.8p to 450.7p.

Primark parent Associated British Foods dropped 14p to 1091p after giving a cautious outlook for the consumer environment in a trading update, despite confirming aims for annual revenue and profit growth.

Rolls-Royce was another faller after a report in the Financial Times suggested the group could face costs of 500 million US dollars (£380 million) in redesigns and fall out from its recent Trent 900 engine crisis. The firm’s shares pulled back from hefty early session declines, but still stood down 3p at 639p.

In the FTSE 250, Rentokil Initial was in the spotlight after it said woes continued at its troubled City Link delivery arm and confirmed the division’s boss Stuart Godman had stepped down. Its shares fell in early trade, but later clawed back to stand 0.1p higher at 95p.

Elsewhere, regional airline Flybe’s flotation took off. It priced shares at 295p in conditional dealings, which was at the lower end of the expected range, but the stock opened higher at 320p and leapt 15.3p to 335.3p in a strong start to life as a public company. Official trading starts next Wednesday.