Market Report: Banking stocks took more than eight points off the bluechip index

Banks took a battering yesterday as traders ditched financial stocks after a shock profit warning from Deutsche. Traders feared that news of the German bank’s €1.1bn (£910m) fourth-quarter loss could mean other banks may still have issues to work through and further regulatory fines to deal with.

Banking stocks in London took more than eight points off the blue-chip index with Barclays the worst performer – down 5.8p to 282.8p. Deutsche reported a slowdown in debt trading in its investment banking division and traders were concerned Barclays’ fixed-income revenue could be weak. Royal Bank of Scotland lost 4.7p to 359p and received a downgrade from JP Morgan Cazenove.

The wider market was quiet as US markets were closed for Martin Luther King Jr Day and the FTSE 100 edged up just 7.43 points to 6,836.73.

In telecoms BT Group lost 3.9p to 379.5p after reports at the weekend that broadcaster BSkyB could tie up with mobile giant Vodafone to challenge BT’s growing strength in TV and broadband. BSkyB ticked up 14p to 854p and Vodafone edged up 0.05p to 239.95p.

Precious metals miners were in favour as silver and gold prices rallied. Mexican silver miner Fresnillo was 44.5p brighter at 776.5p and gold miner Randgold lifted 230p to 4,185p.

Energy services engineer Weir powered ahead 90p to 2,227p as Redburn Partners rated it a buy.

Reports that Tesco is mulling a bid for the mother and baby products retailer Mothercare were played down by analysts but Mothercare jumped 17p to 289p and Tesco dipped 1.5p to 329.6p.

Personal injury and clinical negligence specialist Frenkel Topping put on 7p to 39p when it said its 2013 results would be ahead of expectations.

Shell company Mentum – which boasts the former Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein banker Peter Moss as chairman – jetted ahead 0.05p to 0.7p and said it was “progressing with discussions over prospective corporate transactions”.

In oil and gas Rockhopper Exploration slid 6p to 152.5p on news its finance director Peter Dixon-Clarke is to leave.