Wednesday 18th March

European shares finished slightly up but were very mixed with London’s FTSE 100 down 1.3 percent while Milan rose 2.78 percent.

Commodity stocks were among the top losers as crude oil prices fell and gold slipped along with base metals. Oil reacted to the latest US government data showed crude supplies there at the highest level in nearly two years, and the World Bank cut its forecast for China’s economic growth this year. Banks were mostly higher, despite Britain’s Financial Services Authority proposing banks retain more capital making them less profitable but safer. Worries about earnings, particularly at Volkswagen, pulled down carmakers’ shares. The euro was up against both the dollar and sterling.

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