LONDON, June 9 — London’s FTSE 100 index underperformed its European peers today, weighed down by heavyweight financials and mining stocks, while Clinigen Group eyed its worst day on record after a downbeat earnings update.
Banks gave up 1.3 per cent, with Barclays leading the decline. HSBC Holdings slipped 1.2 per cent after Moody’s downgraded its senior insecured debt rating to A3 from A2.World stock prices held near record highs as investors bet the Federal Reserve is some way off from tapering its economic stimulus.
“Compared to the Fed and even the Bank of England, the ECB probably would be a little bit more cautious and the withdrawal of stimulus in the eurozone is further away than it is here or in the US” Among stocks, Smith+Nephew jumped 4 per cent to the top of the FTSE 100 index, after Credit Suisse upgraded the medical products maker’s stock to “outperform” from “neutral”.