For the second day running a US bank has helped send leading shares lower.
Yesterday it was Bank of America, which rekindled worries about bad debt levels when it reported its results. Today come disappointing figures from Bank of New York Mellon. On top of that came reports from a number of major US companies, which are all to a greater or lesser degree, showing the scars of the recession. They include Coca Cola, drug group Merck & Co, chemicals company DuPont and building equipment manufacturer Caterpillar. This quarterly reporting season will be keenly scrutinised for signs of how long the downturn will last, and so far the signs are fairly downbeat. David Buik at BGC Partners said:
"New York looks as though it might give the market the thumbs down today. The quality of the earnings so far have hardly passed muster."
As a result Wall Street has opened lower and the FTSE 100 - which had been drifting fairly aimlessly for most of the morning - is now down 65.90 points at 3924.96.
Tesco, up 15.9p to 348p, and Primark owner Associated British Foods 26.5p higher at 680.5p, are still proving bright spots after their results.
Still with retail, it appears consumers are still forking out some of their cash for luxury goods, to judge by Burberry. The company said margins had come under pressure in the second half but its profits would still be in line with City expectations. Its shares are currently 34.5p higher at 366p.
But financial shares are still proving the main drag on the market. Insurers are lower on concerns about any changes in tomorrow's budget, with Aviva 25.25p lower at 248.75p, Old Mutual down 4p to 55.8p and Standard Life 10.1p lower at 176.8p. Prudential, hit by a Morgan Stanley downgrade, has lost 29.75p to 350.75p.
