LONDON: U.K. stocks fell Tuesday, with investors swatting down shares of banking heavyweight Barclays PLC and miner Glencore PLC, pulling the benchmark FTSE 100 away from a record high.
The FTSE 100 UKX, -0.74% dropped 0.7% to 6,889.13 as all major sectors ended lower. The fall in U.K. equities mirrored a drive lower on other European SXXP, -0.92% and U.S. indexes SPX, -0.45% COMP, -0.56% that have recently hit record highs. The British benchmark last week closed at its strongest level in more than 15 years.
Barclays BARC, -3.22% shares posted one of Tuesday’s worst performances, with a 3.2% pullback marking their biggest decline in nearly two months. The firm said fines and legal costs pushed it to a net loss of 174 million pounds ($267.4 million) for the year, as it set aside an extra £750 million in provision for an investigation into foreign-exchange markets.
“The bank may be at its strongest ‘since the financial crisis,’ but the fines and provisions have detracted from the company’s balance sheet,” David Madden, market analyst at IG, wrote in a note. “Barclays’ capital structure isn’t under question, and as long as legal costs loom over the bank the share price will remain restricted.”
