By Shawn Langlois, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks dipped on Tuesday, extending
the prior session's sharp drop, amid freshened concerns over what a
Greece exit from the euro zone could mean for the markets.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.3% to 5,446 in afternoon trade.
The index shed 2% Monday after last-ditch attempts to form a
coalition government in Greece stumbled over the weekend.
That sparked another batch of fears that the country won't be
able to push through with austerity reforms it promised in exchange
for a bailout agreed in March.
"This latest Hellenic national anti-incumbent swing," according
to Barclays Capital analyst Edmund Shing, "has returned euro land
to a state of political flux over continued efforts to reduce
burgeoning public debt burdens, and has revived the existential
question of the euro's continued existence, at least in its present
form."
Leading advancers in the FTSE, shares of security firm G4S PLC
rose almost 3%, while Carnival PLC bucked the trend by adding more
than 2%.
The biggest loser in the group were International Consolidated
Airlines Group , down 5.1%. J.P. Morgan cut its rating on IAG to
neutral from overweight, saying that the recent rally in the share
price has made its peers, like top pick Lufthansa, more
attractive.
Experian PLC also took a hit, losing 2%.
On the banking front, which is particularly susceptible to
tensions in the euro zone, Barclays PLC (BCS) shares failed to find
their footing, dropping another 3% on top of the prior sessions
notable retreat.
Elwsehere, Rebekah Brooks, the former boss of News Corp.'s
British newspaper unit News International, will be charged with
conspiring to obstruct justice, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Her husband, Charles Brooks, along with her former assistant,
her chauffeur and two security men also faces charges, according to
the Wall Street Journal. News Corp. (NWSA) owns the Wall Street
Journal and MarketWatch, the publisher of this report