FRIDAY MARKET CLOSE: Weak US data drags Footsie below 7,000

Blue-chip shares closed below the 7,000 mark dragged down by disappointing US growth data and continuing uncertainty over the Greek debt crisis.

Figures revealed the US economy shrank at a 0.7 per cent annual rate. Picture: Getty

The benchmark FTSE 100 index tumbled 56.49 points to 6,984.43, after official figures revealed the US economy actually shrank at a 0.7 per cent annual rate in the first three months of the year, depressed by a severe winter and a widening trade deficit.

Markets in France and Germany posted sharp declines after hopes this week of an imminent deal between debt-laden Greece and its creditors were tempered.

Fears over the crisis worsened after Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, told a German newspaper that a Greek exit from the eurozone was a possibility.

Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, said: “We’ve still finished the month fractionally higher but the losses were broad based and only a select handful of stocks have managed to close the day in positive territory. It appears that the sell-off is simply a culmination of factors including month-end profit taking and rising concerns over the Greek debt situation.”

Primark owner Associated British Foods topped the leaderboard, also lifted by a broker note, with Goldman Sachs upgrading it to buy from sell, pointing to a bumper rise in earnings expected from the clothing retailer’s entry into the US market.

The stock added more than 2 per cent, or 78p, to 3,028p.

Mobile phone giant Vodafone was ahead too, after it sold its 4.2 per cent stake in Indian telecoms infrastructure firm Bharti Airtel for $200 million to parent firm Bharti Enterprises. Shares rose 1.7p to 255.4p.

Among the fallers was British Airways owner International Airlines Group – as it edges towards a takeover of Ireland’s Aer Lingus after approval by the Irish government and the carrier’s board. IAG shares fell 15p to 554p.

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