BP leads sharp FTSE falls

Those using their private wealth to trade on the FTSE 100 will have seen the index fall sharply in the morning session today (June 1st), led by a large decline from BP.

The oil giant’s shares were down by as much as 12 per cent, on the back of news its ’top kill’ attempt to stop the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico has failed.

According to Reuters, the benchmark index was 1.6 per cent lower by 09:17 BST, with BP’s drop accounting for nearly half of the FTSE’s slide.

Elsewhere, a number of banks also began the day lower as worries about eurozone debt remained, as Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group lost as much as 2.6 per cent.

However, there was a rise in insurance firm Prudential’s stock price, following the news American Insurance Group has turned down an offer from the firm for AIA, its Asian life insurance operation.

A similar trend was also seen across Europe, as the FTSEurofirst 300 was off by 1.4 per cent at 09:24 BST.ADNFCR-2318-ID-19810198-ADNFCR