Unrest in Hong Kong added to City jitters yesterday in a session where traders continued to sell the stock of the country's largest supermarkets.
With tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters blocking Hong Kong's streets and shutting down its business district, Asia-facing banks HSBC and Standard Chartered were two of the biggest fallers in London's top flight as the FTSE 100 Index declined 2.8 points to 6646.6.
The performance followed a 2% slump for the territory's Hang Seng Index, although other Asian markets were more robust.
The developments did little for confidence in London after a torrid few days and ahead of a key policy meeting for the European Central Bank later this week. But the pound was up against the dollar, at 1.63, on renewed bets by traders that the Bank of England will be the first major central bank to raise interest rates since the financial crisis. Sterling was largely unchanged against the euro, at 1.28.
Standard Chartered said it temporarily shut ATMs and branches in five locations as part of a "business continuity plan". The bank, whose UK-listed shares fell almost 2% or 19p to 1155.5p, has 6,000 staff across 78 branches in Hong Kong.
HSBC's main building in Hong Kong operated normally during the day. Shares were 2% lower, off 15.2p to 635p.
Prudential, which is a major insurer in Asia, fell 9p to 1414.5p.
Supermarkets also featured on the fallers board after discount rival Aldi posted a record profits haul and a survey from the EY ITEM Club pointed to another three years of squeezed spending power for middle income households.
Tesco fell 2% or 3.75p to 187.8p, Morrisons dipped 1.3p to 169.7p and Sainsbury's dropped 2.8p to 247.3p ahead of its trading update on Wednesday.
Analysts at Shore Capital expect the chain to report a drop in like-for-like sales of between 3.5% and 4% in the second quarter update.
Shares in Compass were heading in the right direction after the world's biggest caterer said it expected to post 4% full-year organic sales growth, offset by the impact of a strong pound. The FTSE 100 company lifted 23p to 984p, a gain of more than 2%.
Outside the top flight, shares in Balfour Beatty slid by another 15% after its third profits warning this year.
The infrastructure firm highlighted a further £75 million shortfall in its UK construction arm and said it had hired KPMG to carry out a review.
Balfour, which is without a full-time chief executive, fell 34.4p to 190.5p.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Petrofac up 29p at 1039p, Compass up 23 at 984p, Admiral up 28p at 1281p and Sports Direct International up 13.5p at 634p
The biggest fallers were HSBC down 15.2p at 635p, Tesco down 3.8p at 187.8p, Standard Chartered down 19p at 1155.5p and Anglo American down 22.5p at 1384p.
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