London shares are firmly down in early trade on Friday following overnight retreats on Wall Street and in Asia, as crude and gold prices taper. Dollar gains against other currencies and most commodities sends the FTSE 100 into the red for the second straight day.
The FTSE 100 index slumps 75-odd points to 6,156.
Strength in the world's reserve currency is starting to cause stresses in financial markets, according to an address by Bank of International Settlements economic adviser Hyun Song Shin in Washington on 8 June.
Pay-TV outfit Sky (SKY) and hospitals operator Mediclinic (MDC) bob between gains and losses along with gold miners Fresnillo (FRES) and Randgold Resources (RRS).
Going the other way, banks and other financial stocks struggle with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) the biggest loser, down 2.0% to 218p. Also in the red are life insurer Standard Life (SL.), down 1.9% to 324p, and Barclays (BARC), 1.8% lower at 173p.
In corporate news, supermarkets titan Tesco (TSCO) gives up 1.75p at 156.15p as investors mull concerns of Amazon's (AMZN:NDQ) incursion into UK grocery versus news today of the £30 million sale of its 95.5% stake in its Kipa business in Turkey, as well as the disposal of the loss-making Giraffe restaurant chain to Boparan Restaurants, the vehicle of wealthy businessman Ranjit Singh Boparan, for an undisclosed sum.
Women's value retailer Bonmarche (BON:AIM) firms 3p to 130.5p as results for the year to March show pre-tax profits in-line with downgraded expectations at £10.6 million (2015:£12.4 million) on sales up 5.3% to £188 million. Though Bonmarche says the beginning of the new financial year has 'continued to be tough due to poor weather', there's relief it still expects to achieve forecasts for the year 'provided trading conditions normalise', while a 5% dividend hike to 7.14p emits confident signals. For more on Bonmarche's recent trials and tribulations, click here.
Loo roll manufacturer Accrol (ACRL:AIM) surges 10% to 110p after it floats on AIM with a market capitalisation of £93 million. The tissue converter, which announced IPO plans in May, has raised £63.5 million which it will use to repay shareholder loan notes and refinance debt. Read our exclusive web story here.
Digital coupns business Eagle Eye (EYE:AIM) slumps 11% to 162.5p as it says it expects group revenue for the year ending 30 June to grow by 34% to £6.5 million following accelerating growth in the second half, although that's way down on the £8 million the market had been anticipating. .
Bond International Software (BDI), up 5% to 104.5p, has pulled the plug on takeover talks with Constellation Software, saying the 105p a share offer under values the business. Investors may well disagree.
