StockMarketWire.com - END-OF-DAY REPORT: Leading shares ended the day over 1% lower. Worries about a possible Greek default were back on the agenda with concerns about whether it can put together a deal...



.... with its creditors before the European Union summit which takes place on Monday.

At the close the FTSE100 was down 61.75 points to 5733.45.

NEW YORK

US stocks were generally down in early trading weighed down by the continuing problems in the eurozone.

Around the close in London, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 83 points to 12,652, the S&P500 was 5 points down at 1,313 and the Nasdaq Composite had risen 4 points to 2,809.

LONDON MARKETS

The major banks had a topsy turvy day. Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays opened much lower but were ahead by the close. Lloyds Banking Group, however, was down over 1%.

The oil giant, BP, fell 2.5% after a court ruled that it would be liable for some of the damages suffered by Transocean in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.

Mining shares generally performed poorly. Antofagasta dropped 3% and there were significant falls for Anglo American and Rio Tinto. An exception was African Barrick Gold which jumped around 5%.

In retail Hornby was down over 18% after issuing a profits warning because of poor trading over Christmas. Elsewhere in retail the picture was mixed. Next gained 1.7% but Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury all fell.

InterContinental Hotels saw its shares fall 2.5% after a sell recommendation from UBS. Domino's Pizza and Restaurant Group lost ground and even the pubs group, Marstons, was down nearly 1% despite reporting strong Christmas and New Year sales.

Marketing group, Creston, dived over 20% after a profits warning.

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