NEW YORK: The London stock market sank as Britons voted in a general election set to be the closest in a generation.
The capital’s FTSE 100 index of leading companies slumped 0.7 per cent to close at 6,887 points.
“It is hard to ignore the (British) election’s impact on the FTSE,” Connor Campbell, Spreadex financial analyst, said. “When placed in context the FTSE’s current losses become even more remarkable; in nine out of the last 11 election days the UK index has risen.”
The eurozone’s main markets closed mixed with Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index up 0.5 per cent to 11,408 points, while the Paris CAC 40 lost 0.3 per cent to 4,967 points, with jitters over the Greek debt crisis also driving down stocks.
Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem said in an interview with Le Monde published Thursday that it would be “politically impossible” to wipe out the face-value of Greek debt,
“The discussion on a reduction of the debt is not taboo. The only thing that would be politically impossible would be to wipe out its face-value”, Mr Dijsselbloem, who is the Dutch finance minister, said.
Madrid stocks ended the day with modest gains of 0.2 per cent, after Spain enjoyed negative interest rates on its medium-term debt for the first time since a crippling economic crisis.
British voters went to the polls Thursday to decide between the main rivals, Prime Minister David Cameron’s centre-right Conservatives and Ed Miliband’s centre-left Labour.
