London close: UK stocks snap winning streak on banking fine, BoE outlook

News of a big fine in the banking sector and gloomy comments from the Bank of England (BoE) weighed on UK equities on Wednesday, with London's stock market finishing lower for the first time in six sessions.A weak start on Wall Street was also pressuring stocks as the benchmark S&P 500 and Dow Jones indices pulled back from record highs.The UK's FTSE 100 closed down 0.25% at 6,611. A five-day winning streak had sent the index to 6,627.4 by the end of trade on Tuesday, its highest finish since 29 September.Analyst Jasper Lawler from CMC Markets UK said that news of large fines for banks dampened sentiment across Europe "so even a slight improvement in [...] economic data wasn't enough to dissuade investors from heading for the exit in overextended markets".However, he explained that the banks involved had already made provisions for the fine in their recent earnings reports "so the impact is largely priced in explaining the relatively small declines".Meanwhile, the BoE's Inflation Report was closely watched by investors on Wednesday, as policymakers sounded a dovish tone by revising down their forecasts for growth and inflation.The Monetary Policy Committee believes that consumer-price inflation will dip below 1% within the next six months and will not return to the 2% target until the end of 2017, easing the pressure for an early rise in interest rates. Economic growth in 2015 is also now forecast to be 2.9%, down from an earlier estimate of 3.1%.In economic data on Wednesday, the UK unemployment rate held steady at 6% in September, disappointing those looking for a drop to 5.9%. However, average weekly earnings in the three months to September rose at an annual rate of 1%, well ahead of expectations.Analyst George Buckley from Deutsche Bank said that low price rises should not be a reason for the BoE not to tighten policy as long as it thinks inflation is on track to move back to target. "But the stars are not yet aligned - stronger wages are showing through, but so too are fears about the global recovery," he said.Banking stocks drop; corporate earnings come in mixedThe banking sector was lower after the Financial Conduct Authority issued its largest ever fine, slapping a £1.1bn penalty on five banks for rigging forex markets, though Barclays has yet to settle as the regulator continues its investigation.Barclays was the worst performer in the sector, finishing down 2.2%, with HSBC and RBS not too far behind.Others in the financial sectors including Aberdeen Asset Management and Hargreaves Lansdown also closed with steep losses.Outsourcing group Capita dropped 6.5% despite saying it remains on track to achieve at least 8% organic growth for 2014. However, the company did reveal that its finance director Gordon Hurst would be stepping down next year.After an initial rise, shares in J Sainsbury sank firmly into the red after the supermarket group warned that its full-year profit and dividend would be lower than last year's. Like-for-like sales fell 2.1% in the first half, while underlying profit sank 6.3%.SSE was also lower after reporting a 6.2% drop in pre-tax profit to £316.6m in its first half, though the utility group did lift its interim dividend by 2.3%.Security firm G4S was higher after trading in the third quarter met expectations while Tullow Oil reassured by saying it is reviewing its costs in light of low international oil prices.On the FTSE 250, online gambling firm Bwin.party jumped 10.5% after confirming speculation that it has started discussions with various parties about potential business combinations. The company said the talks may or may not result in an offer being made.Market MoverstechMARK 2,834.31 +0.12%FTSE 100 6,611.04 -0.25%FTSE 250 15,604.27 -0.17%FTSE 100 - RisersTullow Oil (TLW) 492.80p +2.20%G4S (GFS) 270.00p +2.08%Royal Mail (RMG) 466.30p +1.81%Anglo American (AAL) 1,364.50p +1.68%Vodafone Group (VOD) 222.00p +1.35%Antofagasta (ANTO) 720.50p +1.26%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,021.00p +1.17%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,159.00p +0.95%Glencore (GLEN) 330.05p +0.92%AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,690.00p +0.70%FTSE 100 - FallersCapita (CPI) 1,048.00p -6.51%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 426.90p -4.28%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 985.00p -3.43%easyJet (EZJ) 1,540.00p -2.96%SSE (SSE) 1,536.00p -2.78%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 411.60p -2.35%Barclays (BARC) 229.50p -2.17%Mondi (MNDI) 1,055.00p -1.95%TUI Travel (TT.) 410.00p -1.91%Centrica (CNA) 297.00p -1.88%FTSE 250 - RisersBwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 119.10p +10.48%Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 259.20p +5.54%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 180.00p +4.23%Senior (SNR) 281.50p +3.84%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 212.90p +3.80%BTG (BTG) 782.00p +3.64%Just Eat (JE.) 321.00p +3.55%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 217.00p +3.19%Evraz (EVR) 129.60p +3.02%Essentra (ESNT) 735.00p +3.01%FTSE 250 - FallersPlaytech (PTEC) 607.00p -9.40%SIG (SHI) 147.90p -6.10%Rank Group (RNK) 151.90p -5.65%Synthomer (SYNT) 197.70p -4.95%Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 284.50p -4.53%Supergroup (SGP) 795.00p -3.81%Ocado Group (OCDO) 307.20p -3.40%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 95.15p -3.40%Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 193.50p -2.76%NMC Health (NMC) 477.00p -2.65%