By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
U.K. stocks fell on Friday, with banks in focus at the start of
May trading after a ratings downgrade for Barclays PLC, and as
shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC climbed after its quarterly
results.
The FTSE 100 lost 0.5% to 6,923.33. Among decliners, Barclays
shares were down 0.9% after a ratings cut at Berenberg to sell from
hold.
Barclays is "one of our wild cards" for this year, as it holds
the potential to emerge as a long-term winner in the sector," wrote
Berenberg analyst James Chappell. "Unfortunately, that change seems
further away than we had hoped, as the malaise from the lackluster
investment-bank strategy has worsened."
But topping the FTSE 100 was Lloyds , whose shares gained 3%
after the company posted a 21% rise in underlying profit
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lloyds-profit-falls-on-tsb-sale-cost-of-1-billion-2015-05-01)
to GBP2.2 billion. However, net profit fell, with Lloyds incurring
a GBP660 million loss related to the spinoff of its TSB Banking
Group PLC unit.
Only the mining group was pushing higher Friday, after data
showed manufacturing activity in China, a major buyer of
commodities, remained in expansionary territory in April
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-manufacturing-activity-holds-steady-2015-04-30-214854532).
Shares of mining giant Rio Tinto PLC leapt 2.8%, and BHP
Billiton PLC (BHP) stepped higher by 1.9%. Anglo American PLC
gained 2.9%.
Separately, Brazilian iron-ore producer Vale (RIO) on Thursday
signaled it's considering cutting output
(http://www.wsj.com/articles/brazils-vale-considers-cutting-iron-ore-output-1430412392)
for the raw material that's used to produce steel.
Trading volumes on the FTSE 100 are seen as likely to be lower
Friday, with most of Europe celebrating a Labour Day holiday. Most
major European stock exchanges are closed for trading. See: Which
markets are closed for Europe's Labour Day?
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/which-markets-are-closed-for-europes-labor-day-2015-04-30)
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires