Wednesday morning market opening

Jun 3 2009 By nebusiness

BANK stocks continued to weigh heavy on the FTSE 100 Index today as miners also dragged the market lower.

Barclays lost another 5%, or 13.5p to 260p, as the fall-out from yesterday’s news of a stake-sale by a major Middle Eastern investor showed no sign of easing.

Lower metal prices after a recent bull run saw miners also fall into the red, which added to the pressure on the Footsie, down 50.5 points at 4426.5 in the first hour of trading.

Lonmin lost 52p to 1516p, with Eurasian Natural Resources following with a fall of 20p to 659p as investors took profits following multi-month highs for metal prices.

But insurer Amlin was the worst off, with a fall of 19.75p to 319.25p after announcing a share placing worth around £80 million to fund a 350 million euro (£300 million) takeover of Fortis Corporate Insurance from the Dutch government.

Utility group Northumbrian Water was in the spotlight in the FTSE 250 after reporting a 10% drop in annual profits.

Shares in the group - which saw profits hit by last year’s energy price rises and lower usage by firms in the recession - fell 2.25p to 246.25p.

Elsewhere, online gaming site Sportingbet failed to hold on to early gains seen after it reported a 34% hike in third quarter earnings.

The stock opened more than 2 ahead, but soon slipped 2.75p into the red to 61.25p.