London close: Traders bide their time ahead of US jobs data

- BskyB paces gains- Lloyds fined $370m by UK and US authorities- Aberdeen Asset Management sees slight drop in AuMtechMARK 2,776.05 -0.83%FTSE 100 6,788.07 -0.05%FTSE 250 15,616.53 -0.48%The Footsie finished the session slightly lower as traders bided their time ahead of a raft of key data and events later in the week, including the latest US jobs report and a Federal Reserve policy meeting, on Wednesday. Acting as a backdrop, traders continued to closely monitor the worsening security situation in the Gaza strip and Ukraine.That came as US President Barack Obama was scheduled to speak on Monday with several European leaders concerning the crisis in the latter country, with markets eyeing the possibility of further European sanctions against the Russian Federation. The top flight index ended the day 3.48 points below Friday's close of 6,791.55. Financials led on the downside, with Aberdeen Asset Management heading up the fallers. In parallel, RBS gave back some of last Friday's sharp gains after it released its better than expected results ahead of schedule. Of note, Lloyds' share price was hit by news that it had agreed to pay $370m in fines to US and UK authorities.Pending home sales Stateside dropped 1.1% from a month earlier after rising 6% in May, according to the National Association of Realtors. Analysts had forecast a rise of 0.5%.BskyB tops leaderboard Back in the UK, British Sky Broadcasting topped the leaderboard. On Friday the company announced a deal to acquire 21st Century Fox's holdings in Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland. Reckitt Benkiser said that it expects market conditions to remain challenging in the second half of the year, particularly in the US and certain emerging markets, but that it was still on track to achieve its full year total revenue growth target of 4-5%. The household goods group also announced that it is planning to hive off its drug arm into a separate UK-listed company. Aberdeen Asset Management reported a pick-up in business in Asia and emerging markets, but revealed a slight fall in assets under management. Assets under management at June 30th totalled £322.5bn, down 0.6% on the £324.5m at the end of March 2014. Analysts at Credit Suisse upped their price target on shares of RBS to 310p from 280p previously, but retained their 'underperform' rating. The lender is progressing better than expected on the run-down of the assets of its non-core RBS Capital Resolution (RCR) arm, but its valuation already captures the "steady state" profile of returns which can be expected, according to the broker. A breakup of GlaxoSmithKline is a possibility as a result of a sweeping overhaul of the group, according to the Chief Executive of the pharmaceuticals giant, the Financial Times said. Budget airline Ryanair more than doubled its first quarter profit and said it was raising annual profit expectations, but warned of second-half pressure on fares from rival price-cutting. Ryanair said first quarter net profit rose 152% to €197m versus the same time a year ago due partly to a strong Easter, but cautioned that it compared with no holiday in the same period last time.Randgold Resources said it was focusing on its Tongon gold mine in Côte d'Ivoire where it is "continuing to make headway" in its efforts to overcome the technical issues that have affected its performance. Chief Executive Mark Bristow admitted this year's planned ramp-up in production had not been achieved due to the need to expand the flotation circuit and the mechanical failure of the recently installed Vibrocone crushers, intended to improve the recovery and throughput rate. National Grid reported a continued "solid operational and financial performance" between April 1st and July 27th, with the UK delivering operational efficiencies and progress with its investment programme, while the US saw a good operational performance.FTSE 100 - RisersBritish Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 904.50p +3.43%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,205.00p +2.66%Fresnillo (FRES) 940.00p +2.12%Pearson (PSON) 1,153.00p +1.86%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 630.90p +1.48%Aggreko (AGK) 1,757.00p +1.15%BG Group (BG.) 1,212.00p +1.08%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,170.00p +1.08%Centrica (CNA) 315.20p +0.93%National Grid (NG.) 879.00p +0.92%FTSE 100 - FallersAberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 435.00p -5.31%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 352.00p -3.35%Kingfisher (KGF) 295.80p -2.89%Royal Mail (RMG) 430.00p -2.52%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,033.00p -2.27%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,047.00p -1.97%ARM Holdings (ARM) 846.00p -1.86%Meggitt (MGGT) 517.50p -1.62%Glencore (GLEN) 371.95p -1.47%IMI (IMI) 1,412.00p -1.40%FTSE 250 - RisersOphir Energy (OPHR) 207.10p +4.23%Debenhams (DEB) 66.20p +3.28%Infinis Energy (INFI) 239.10p +2.97%Drax Group (DRX) 686.50p +2.69%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 216.60p +2.65%Exova Group (EXO) 240.00p +2.13%Restaurant Group (RTN) 610.00p +2.09%Rightmove (RMV) 2,208.00p +1.75%BH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 11.99 +1.61%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 110.90p +1.37%FTSE 250 - FallersPets at Home Group (PETS) 170.10p -7.05%AO World (AO.) 200.00p -5.70%Xaar (XAR) 543.00p -4.65%CSR (CSR) 555.00p -4.47%Pace (PIC) 355.00p -3.64%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 386.00p -3.45%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,055.00p -3.38%Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 336.40p -3.19%Evraz (EVR) 95.00p -3.16%Ted Baker (TED) 1,685.00p -3.16%FTSE TechMARK - RisersOxford Biomedica (OXB) 2.92p +2.63%Sarossa (SARS) 1.93p +1.32%Gresham Computing (GHT) 127.00p +0.79%BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 17.00p +0.74%CML Microsystems (CML) 365.00p +0.69%XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,500.00p +0.67%RM (RM.) 165.00p +0.61%Kofax Limited (DI) (KFX) 420.00p +0.36%Skyepharma (SKP) 246.00p +0.10%IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 193.06 +0.09%FTSE TechMARK - FallersElectronic Data Processing (EDP) 72.50p -2.68%Torotrak (TRK) 18.75p -1.96%Vectura Group (VEC) 140.00p -1.93%Dialight (DIA) 939.50p -1.88%Optos (OPTS) 186.00p -1.85%E2V Technologies (E2V) 154.00p -1.75%Promethean World (PRW) 31.00p -1.59%Puricore (PURI) 35.50p -1.39%Anite (AIE) 90.25p -1.37%KCOM Group (KCOM) 93.50p -1.32%AB