Gloomy morning for FTSE

Housebuilders bore the brunt of a market sell-off today amid gloomy trading for the FTSE 100 Index.

Church Church builder Persimmon’s warnings of worsening market conditions came amid pressure on mining stocks and retailers.

By mid-morning, the Footsie had extended earlier losses to stand 103.9 points lower at 5979.7, a fall of almost 2%.

York-based Persimmon was the leading top-flight faller, down almost 8% or 51.5p to 598.5p after revealing revenues down 24% so far this year with margins also under pressure.

Among struggling housebuilders in the FTSE 250 Index, Barratt Developments fell 37.5p to 293.5p – with rumours of a possible rights issue circulating in the market. Taylor Wimpey slipped 10.75p to 134.75p and Redrow fell 16.25p to 257.25p.

Guidance from Barclays that first quarter profits were below last year gave no respite in a tough week for banking shares. Chief executive John Varley sought to reassure over the company’s overall health, but shares fell 9.5p to 446.25p, or 2%.

Elsewhere in the sector Royal Bank of Scotland also declined 11.25p to 333.75p and Halifax Bank of Scotland dipped 12p to 488p.

Meanwhile miners gave back some of the gains of recent sessions led by Eurasian Natural Resources, off 99p to 1321p. Analysts at ABN Amro marked down the Kazakh miner on concerns over the possible impact of export duties.

Retailers were also under pressure, as downgrades from Pali International for Marks & Spencer and Next contributed to falls of 7.75p to 356p and 41p to 1075p respectively. Official figures showing a 0.4% decline in sales volumes last month added to the gloom.

Among the few Footsie stocks making progress, mobile phone giant Vodafone topped the risers’ board. Shares were 1.9p higher at 155.9p after it announced a tie-up with two other firms to develop mobile internet services.