London stock market falls by midday, Wall Street drops on financial, energy shares

London stock market falls by midday

www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-04 16:18:45

LONDON, June 4 (Xinhua) --

The FTSE of the London stock market fell nearly 2 percent by midday Wednesday as mining and oil shares weakened after commodity prices were hit by the strengthening U.S. dollar.

By midday, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 110.3 points, or 1.82 percent, at 5,947.4.

Oil giants BP and Shell both fell by more than 2.5 percent as the price of crude fell below 124 U.S. dollars a barrel, its lowest level for nearly three weeks.

Mining shares also came under pressure, with both Vedanta Resources and Kazakhmys down 3 percent.

Editor: An Lu

Wall Street drops on financial, energy shares

www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-04 07:09:02

NEW YORK, June 3 (Xinhua) --

Wall Street retreated for a second day on Tuesday after Lehman Brothers speculation led a slide in financial shares and plunging oil prices pushed down energy companies.

Lehman, the fourth-biggest U.S. securities firm, slid to its lowest level since 2003 on concern that it may report its first ever quarterly loss, prompting a speculation that it will be forced to raise more capital. Wachovia Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. bank, fell after the report that billionaire investor Michael Price is betting the stock to drop.

Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. fell as the crude futures plunged 3.45 U.S. dollars to 124.31 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, leading energy shares lower.

Stocks opened higher Tuesday morning after the U.S. Commerce Department reported that factory orders were up 1.1 percent in April as demand rose across a number of industries. Also, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday morning that he expects the U.S. economy to improve later this year, and he indicated that the Fed still intends to keep interest rates on hold.

The Dow Jones fell 100.97 to 12,402.85. Broader indexes also retreated. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 8.02 to 1,377.65 and the Nasdaq dropped 11.05 to 2,480.48.　

Editor: Mo Hong'e

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