FTSE on the slide

The FTSE 100 Index showed little appetite for finishing the year above 6,000 today, despite some better economic news from the United States.

The last full business session of the year saw the Footsie drop 25.3 points to 5971, but the top flight remains on track to rise by more than 10% across 2010 after a rally in December capped a strong second half to the year.

The top-tier closed above the 6,000 level for the first time since June 2008 on Christmas Eve as thin trading volumes and a Santa rally helped blue-chips move higher.

But with half a session of the year to go, the festive charge looks to have run its course judging by today's decline, which was triggered by a disappointing session for Asian markets overnight.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.1% as investors sold export-based stocks due to the strengthening of the yen against the dollar, a factor which cuts the value of profits and makes products less competitive abroad.

Better-than-expected news on US employment, manufacturing and housing should have triggered a fightback, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower at London's close as investors locked in profits after the recent strong run.

The impact of the economic data failed to improve the position of the US dollar against the euro, which was also around 1% stronger against the pound during a much-needed end of year rally for the single currency. Sterling was also weaker against the dollar.

Heavyweights such as BP were among those lower in London today after a drop of 2.15p to 471.2p. Mobile phone group Vodafone fell 1.85p to 167p and BT Group dropped 1.2p to 183.5p.

Silver miner Fresnillo was top of the FTSE 100 pile after lifting 42p to 1661p, a gain of more than 2% during an upbeat session for the mining sector. Other risers included Rio Tinto with a gain of 31.5p to 4584p and Xstrata 10.5p higher at 1535p.

But retailers experienced a disappointing session despite more evidence that the sector held its own during a snow-impacted run-up to Christmas.

This was underlined by Asda as it revealed it had maintained sales momentum over its most recent trading period. The fortnight leading up to Christmas saw 11 stores record sales of more than £7 million, compared with the nine that passed the figure in 2009.

Tesco was down 5.9p at 429.55p, Sainsbury's eased 3.2p to 380.1p and Morrisons slipped 3.8p to 267.4p.

Next, which is due to publish trading figures on Wednesday at the start of the sector's Christmas reporting season, fell 12p to 1994p. Marks & Spencer was 2.6p lower at 373.2p.

The biggest Footsie risers were Fresnillo up 42p at 1661p, Shire ahead 17p at 1559p, Petrofac up 17p at 1601p and Cairn Energy ahead 3.8p at 422.7p.

The biggest fallers were Randgold Resources down 130p at 5315p, Aggreko off 31p at 1496p, Prudential down 13p at 668p and BAE Systems off 5.3p at 330.7p.