Commodity stocks lead FTSE down wih mining, oil and tech firms sliding

FTSE: 5,964.47 (-88.97) Mid-250: 11,541.59 (-148.11) Small Cap: 3,254.27 (-30.96):BRITAIN'S TOP share index fell sharply on yesterday, led by commodity stocks which suffered partly from concerns over the nuclear crisis in Japan and the impact of the earthquake on its economy and also global growth.

This dented mining stocks and technology firms such as ARM Holdings.

Miners dropped sharply, weighed down too by Alcoa’s fall in the United States after the aluminium maker missed revenue estimates overnight. Rio Tinto shed 2.8 per cent ahead of first-quarter results due out today.

Tullow Oil, an Africa-focused explorer, declined to 1,413p and BG Group slid to 1,488p. Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, retreated to 2,229.5p. BP dropped to 461.35 pence.

ARM Holdings slid 3.9 per cent to 560 pence, pacing a retreat in European chipmakers

The FTSE 100 closed down 1.5 per cent, albeit in thin volumes.

A technical analyst at Charles Stanley said many traders would be looking for an excuse to take profits after the FTSE put on 8 per cent since March’s lows.

He said a support level at 5,908, the current April low, would be worth keeping an eye on, “a breach of which would strongly suggest that the rally has topped out”.

The FTSE 100 volatility index rose 14.2 per cent, hitting a one-week high.

Goldman Sachs’s call to lock in commodity trading profits weighed on crude oil prices, which put pressure on integrated oils.

Cruise operator Carnival and International Consolidated Airlines Group rose 4.7 and 4.5 per cent respectively, as Brent crude retreated from a 32-month high of $127.02 a barrel hit on Monday.

High oil costs drove US import prices higher in March to post their largest increase in more than 1½ years.

With investors’ confidence undermined, traders noted a flow into defensive stocks such as tobaccos, pharmaceuticals, and utilities.

Drugmakers AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline were near the top of the FTSE 100 leader board, up 0.5 and 0.7 per cent respectively.

A note from Charles Stanley described the broader technical picture for GlaxoSmithKline – which hit its highest closing level on Monday since January after rallying strongly from a March low of 1,127.50p – as “encouraging”. – (Reuters)