(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors)Footsie took a triple digit fall with resource stocks prominent among the hardest hit. The FTSE 100 fell 100 points to 6669 with less than one-sixth of the blue-chip index's constituents making any headway. Among those defying the trend was RSA Insurance (LON:RSA) on bid speculation. The stock rose 2.1% on market chatter that a mystery rival was interested in buying the group for as much as 600p a share. German insurer Allianz Switzerland's Zurich Insurance and Italy's Generali have all been rumoured previously as potential suitors for RSA. RSA led by former Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) chief executive Stephen Hester has been undergoing a shake-up aimed at saving £180mln over three years. Hester was brought in February last year to lead the recovery drive following accounting irregularities at its Irish arm and a run of bad weather claims in the UK and Canada. It launched a £773mln emergency rights issue to shore up its balance sheet and off-loaded non-core businesses in continental Europe North America and Asia. In May Hester said RSA had made encouraging first quarter progress with premium income returning to modest growth costs falling and its UK business gaining strength. A spokesperson for RSA declined to comment when contacted by Proactive Investors. Airlines also bucked the trend. EasyJet (LON:EZJ) reported better-than-expected revenue per seat in the three months to June 30 lifting its shares by 77p to 449.6p. British Airways owner IAG (LON:IAG) rose 9p in sympathy to 569.5p. Flybe (LON:FLYB) flew 11.25p higher to 82.25p as it reported a positive start to the year with passenger numbers rising 9.8% to 2.1 million in the first quarter. Airlines stocks would have been lifted by the latest data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) which showed crude inventories at the Cushing Oklahoma hub rose 2.3 million barrels last week contrasting with market expectations for a fall. The news hit shares in oil and mining stocks. BP (LON:BP.) shed 1.8% at 406.6p and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) slipped 2.6% to 1800.5p. Commodities such as gold were sliding again as the greenback got stronger. Anglo American (LON:AAL) tumbled 48p to 813.5p Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) fell 94p to 2503p and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) subsided 72p to 1180p. The biggest blue-chip casualty of the day was chip designer ARM Holdings (LON:ARM) hit by a double whammy of disappointing sales forecasts from Apple yesterday and its own underwhelming third quarter projections. ARM signalled that "a small sequential increase in industry revenues" in the second quarter could limit third quarter royalties. Among the small caps Weatherly (LON:WTI) was wanted on the back of a production update. The shares climbed almost 10% to 1.15p as it said it expects to reach full capacity at its Tschudi copper mine in Namibia in the final quarter of the year. Independent Resources (LON:IRG) hardened 6.3% to 0.85p as various directors and senior managers opted to convert salaries and fees due into shares. The market cheered the act especially as the shares were taken at a penny a pop which represents a premium to the current market price.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.