LONDON (AFP) – London's leading share index closed lower on Monday, with trade shaken by violent unrest in Libya.
The FTSE 100 index was down 1.12 percent, finishing on 6,014.8 points.
While traders received the good news that manufacturing and service activity in February hit levels last seen in July 2006, according to the closely-watched Markit survey, Brent oil prices soared above $105 per barrel, hitting in a fresh two-year peak in the wake of deadly violence in Libya.
"Now that many in the Middle East have tasted change after the people of Tunisian and Egyptian have achieved the ousting of their leaders, the appetite has grown bigger within other states," said Capital Spreads boss Simon Denham.
"The Libyan problems could continue for days as well but in this instance the population are dealing with the longest standing ruler within the area who simply is not going to give up without a fight."
At the same time, he said European markets "have been lifted by good economic data from Germany and Europe."
Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) was the most traded stock of the day, seeing 125 million shares change owners, followed by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which saw 93.3 million shares switch hands.
The two banks also led the day's fallers, with Lloyds shedding 3.97 percent -- or 2.75 pence -- to close at 66.55, followed by RBS, which fell 3.89 percent -- or 1.89 pence -- to end at 46.64.
Gold miner Randgold Resources made the biggest gains of the day, seeing shares climb 3.97 percent -- or 200 pence -- to end at 5,235. It was followed by software firm Invensys, which added 3.71 percent -- or 12.8 pence -- to finish at 357.8.
Meanwhile, the pound was down against both the dollar and the euro.
At 1709 GMT, sterling was trading at 1.6225 dollars, down from 1.6245 dollars at 1701 GMT on Friday, while it fell from 1.1877 euros to 1.1862 euros over the same period.
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