- FTSE 100 at lowest level since early September- US, Eurozone and UK data disappoints- BP reaches settlement with US DoJPolitical uncertainty and disappointing economic figures the world over weighed heavily on UK stock markets today, pushing the FTSE 100 close to its lowest levels since early Septmeber.The Footsie finished at its intraday low of 5,678. The last time the index closed lower was on September 5th when it finished at 5,658. Stateside, stocks suffered declines after the opening bell in New York after some disappointing guidance from economic bellwether Wal-Mart, a surge in jobless claims last week and a fall in the Philly Fed manufacturing survey in November. Nervousness ahead of President Barack Obama's face-to-face negotiations with Republicans about the 'fiscal cliff' in Congress tomorrow was also on investors' minds, as well as violence in the Middle East as the Gaza Strip conflict reignites.On this side of the Atlantic, it was revealed today that Eurozone gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.1% in the third quarter, in line with consensus estimates. When accounting for the 0.2% decline in the second quarter, it means that the single-currency area entered technical recession after contracting for a second consecutive quarter. "Even though we saw a slight upward adjustment in German and French numbers for Q3, investors remain more worried about the data for Q4 which continues to disappoint," said market analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets.Things weren't much brighter for domestic data either after the Office for National Statistics revealed that UK retail sales volumes fell by 0.8% in October, much worse than the 0.1% fall expected by analysts. Sentiment in the UK is still fragile after the Bank of England yesterday cut its growth estimate for 2013.Meanwhile, Moody's has said that if the UK falls back into recession then it could downgrade its 'AAA' credit rating.FTSE 100: BP falls after reaching settlement with US DoJOil titan BP dropped into the red after it announced late this afternoon that it has resolved all criminal claims with the US Department of Justice in relation to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster in 2010 and will pay the government $4bn in installments over the next five years. It is also paying the Securities and Exchange Commission $525m over a three-year period."We apologise for our role in the accident, and as today's resolution with the U.S. government further reflects, we have accepted responsibility for our actions," said BP CEO Bob Dudley.Water group Pennon finished the day as the worst performer on the Footsie after reporting that full-year profits at its recycling unit Viridor would be "somewhat below the bottom of the current range of market expectations".Vodafone finished lower after the telecom's CEO Vittorio Colao said that he wouldn't rule out selling its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless, according to Bloomberg.Meanwhile, oilfield services firm Wood Group sank after Nomura named it as one of the "top 'reduces' for 2013." The broker said that the stock is trading at a 24% premium to the sector average which is "unwarranted given undifferentiated business model and limited upside to EPS." Sector peer AMEC was lower after BarCap and Canaccord both reduced their target prices for the stock.Life insurer Resolution tanked after a mixed update, saying that new business profitability is continuing to improve, but that its international business is "below par" and it will incur higher costs from IT updates. Mining and banking stocks held up quite well today despite the macroeconomic uncertainty: EVRAZ, RBS, Xstrata, Kazakhmys and Barclays were among the best performers. GKN was also a strong riser, boosted in part by reports that it has revised its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Company and formed a deal over manufacturing development and intellectual property rights. FTSE 250: WS Atkins jumps 11%Design and engineering consultancy group WS Atkins jumped after it topped expectations with its interim profits, and signalled optimism for the future by announcing that it has resumed recruiting. Nickel miner Talvivaara was subdued after replacing its CEO Harri Natunen with Pekka Perä following the interruption to metals production caused by leakage in a gypsum pond. Construction group Kier was in demand after saying that it remains on course to meet full year expectations as it builds momentum towards the second half of the year. Meanwhile, New World Resources suffered after JP Morgan reduced its target price from 260p to 210p and downgraded the stock to 'underweight'. Jefferies also cut its target price from 300p to 275p and reiterated a 'hold' recommendation. On Wednesday the company announced that it had seen a big drop in revenues and profits over the first nine months of the year as it was hit by floundering demand in steel markets. FTSE 100 - RisersEvraz (EVR) 225.50p +3.73%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 282.20p +1.62%Xstrata (XTA) 958.00p +1.09%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 667.00p +0.91%GKN (GKN) 204.30p +0.79%IMI (IMI) 942.00p +0.75%Barclays (BARC) 239.25p +0.67%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,948.00p +0.67%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,068.00p +0.56%CRH (CRH) 1,117.00p +0.54%FTSE 100 - FallersPennon Group (PNN) 628.50p -6.19%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 790.50p -5.89%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 230.00p -3.97%Amec (AMEC) 1,020.00p -3.41%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 161.10p -3.24%Kingfisher (KGF) 275.40p -2.69%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,511.00p -2.58%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 331.80p -2.27%Prudential (PRU) 852.00p -2.18%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 852.00p -2.18%FTSE 250 - RisersAtkins (WS) (ATK) 710.00p +11.29%COLT Group SA (COLT) 105.00p +6.17%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 221.00p +5.24%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 111.00p +4.72%Computacenter (CCC) 364.70p +4.20%Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 594.00p +4.03%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 249.90p +3.65%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,070.00p +3.58%Bumi (BUMI) 274.40p +3.39%Kier Group (KIE) 1,143.00p +3.35%FTSE 250 - FallersMan Group (EMG) 73.75p -5.69%Ruspetro (RPO) 95.20p -4.32%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 445.00p -4.28%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 67.75p -3.90%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 238.80p -3.40%Home Retail Group (HOME) 106.70p -3.00%BBA Aviation (BBA) 198.10p -2.99%Hunting (HTG) 723.50p -2.56%Perform Group (PER) 390.00p -2.50%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 930.00p -2.41%BC
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