By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks dropped Tuesday, with the
FTSE 100 benchmark turning sharply lower in part on a fresh round
of losses for energy-company shares.
The FTSE 100 fell 1.1% to 6,344.26, under pressure as financial,
industrial consumer staples and discretionary shares waded in the
red. Among those groups, retailer Kingfisher PLC declined 2.9% and
Aberdeen Asset Management PLC pulled back 2.5%. Meggit PLC shares
gave up 0.6% after the engineering firm said it purchased Precision
Engine Controls Corporation for $44.2 million in cash.
Struggling at the bottom of the FTSE 100 was
industrial-equipment rental company Ashtead Group PLC , down 7.3%
after downgrades for U.S. peer United Rentals Inc. (URI) pushed its
shares lower by 11% overnight.
Meanwhile, Tullow Oil PLC shares fell 2.5%, the lead decliner
among oil shares as oil futures (CLG5) fell further, hitting their
lowest levels in more than five years.
Some miners, however, held to gains after figures from HSBC
highlighted resilience in the services sector in China, a key
market for metals. The services sector is holding up well in the
face of a downturn in manufacturing, "providing some counterweight
to the downward pressures on the economy," said HSBC's chief
economist for China, Qu Hongbin, in a statement.
Shares of iron-ore producer Anglo American PLC rose 1.5% and
Randgold Resources Ltd. gained 1.8%, topping the FTSE 100.
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