TUESDAY MARKET CLOSE: Carney’s comments worry investors

The London market took fright as Bank of England governor Mark Carney appeared to signal yet another policy shift.

City workers pass the Bank of England. Picture: Getty

The FTSE 100 Index gave up early gains following comments made by Carney to close 13.49 lower at 6,787.07.

Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG, said: “Defensives have been in vogue during the day as lack of clarity on UK monetary policy caused investors to shun riskier names.

“The Bank of England risks coming across as nervous, rather than in control, and such uncertainty just gives markets something else to worry about.”

Among the defensive names on the risers’ board were British Land and Land Securities, each up around 1.5 per cent at 687p and 1,028p respectively.

The airline stocks rebounded following losses brought about by a controllers’ strike in France. EasyJet was up 4 per cent at 1,479p, while British Airways owner IAG added almost 2 per cent at 386.8p.

The strengthening dollar added to the attraction of the oil majors, which had already been making gains off the recent spike in crude prices. BP was up 3.9p to 523.9p, while rival Royal Dutch Shell was 4p higher at 2,433.5p.

In corporate news, Carpetright shares were nearly 1 per cent lower despite chairman Lord Harris insisting the retailer was on track for a better year. Results showed a fall in underlying profits to £4.6 million, and shares fell 4.8p to 494.3p.

Barcode-printer maker Domino Printing Sciences was the biggest faller in the FTSE 250 after it cautioned that pricing pressure in Asia and other developing markets coupled with increased research and development expenses would weigh on earnings for the next year. Shares fell nearly 17 per cent or 125.5p to 615p.