Middle East turmoil drags on FTSE

Miners and banking stocks dragged the FTSE 100 Index into the red today as concerns over global political unrest hit investor sentiment.

A strong result for UK retail sales in January - up 1.9% - failed to offset falls among the likes of Anglo American and Barclays.

Political troubles in the Middle East and North Africa weighed on investor minds, sending the Footsie down 32.6 points to 6054.8.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street was also heading for a lacklustre opening amid the unrest and uncertainty ahead of a G20 meeting in Paris, according to futures trading.

In London, shareholders moved to lock-in recent bank profits, with Barclays down 5.6p to 328p, Lloyds Banking Group off 0.4p to 68.8p and HSBC 10.1p lower at 720.8p.

Depressed copper prices continued to impact miners, with Anglo off 76.5p to 3219p.

However, safe-haven gold was in demand - helping African Barrick Gold move 5% higher, up 26.8p to 577.3p.

Severn Trent and United Utilities were making gains - up 12p to 1466p and 1p to 588.5p - after Goldman Sachs upgraded stocks in the sector.

Their second tier counterpart Northumbrian Water also benefited with a 8.9p gain to 324p.

BAE Systems fell for a second session in a row as investors digested Thursday's warning that sales were likely to fall this year due to ongoing defence budget cuts on both sides of the Atlantic. Shares were down 4.8p to 336.1p.

In the FTSE 250, shares in Rentokil Initial took a fresh battering after new figures showed its City Link delivery arm remained deep in the red.

The support services firm has promised further action to revive the ailing business, but warned City Link faced another year of financial pain.

Seymour Pierce stockbrokers added that overall results from Rentokil, showing a 15% rise in annual profits, were also slightly below expectations as the second tier stock saw fell 7% or 6.8p to 91.3p.

Fellow FTSE 250 player Go-Ahead saw shares jump 5% or 65p to 1381p after the bus and rail operator reported an 8% rise in half-year profits and said annual profits were likely to be higher than previously anticipated.

Elsewhere, Fox's biscuit parent Northern Foods added 0.4p to 74.6p as speculation mounted over a bidding battle for the group.

Irish suitor Greencore is reportedly teaming up with a private equity firm for a counter move to trump the bid from Harry Ramsden's owner Boparan.