FTSE slightly lower in midday trade with banks in retreat - 7/4/12

MIDDAY REPORT: Headline shares were slightly lower in midday trade, with banks heading down as the LIBOR scandal unsettled investors, and the heavyweight miners mixed as base metals prices lost headway. At midday, the FTSE100 was down 9.55 points at 5,678.18 with the FTSE250 off 70.4 points at 11,119.4 and the FTSE Smallcaps 2.15 points better at 2,987.17

EU shares give back some of their gains from the last few days as traders take profits. Euro Stox 50 -0.5%, London -0.2%, Paris -0.5%, Frankfurt -0.3%.

Asian stocks are mixed, with the upside coming from hopes and speculation of further easing from Chinese and EU central banks, although sentiment in China has been dampened by the services PMI reading. Japan +0.4%, Hong Kong +0.1%, China -0.3%, India +0.2%

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