Headline shares ended the day with heavy losses, with the crisis in Greece and pre-election nerves keeping investors on the back foot. Miners provided both the best and the worst performers. At the close of business, the FTSE100 was down 69.18 points at 5,341.93 with the FTSE250 off 169.3 points at 9,982.14 and the FTSE Smallcaps 28.37 points lower at 2,886.55.  US stocks were weaker, but off opening lows, as better than expected service sector data helped calm nerves. Approaching the close in London, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 24 points at 10,902, the S&P500 lost 4 points at 1,170 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 14 points to 2,410.

LONDON MARKETS

Trade in London was hit by weakness in travel and leisure stocks as the Icelandic volcano spread a fresh cloud of gloom. This added to the downward pressures brought by the crisis in Greece and a stronger dollar. Coffee shop to hotel group Whitbread (LON:WTB) was a big casualty, down 56.44p at 1,460p. Fellow hotelier InterContinental fell 27p at 1,093p. Holiday operators also felt the pinch, with Tui Travel Plc (LON:TT.) down 8p at 260.2p and Thomas Cook Group Plc (LON:TCG) 6.2p lower at 237p, while cruise operator Carnival (LON:CCL) lost 79p at 2,700p.
British Airways (LON:BAY) lost a further 7.3p at 209p as a change in wind direction forced the closure of some UK airports on volcanic ash concerns. Midcap peer Easyjet (LON:EZJ) dived 15.8p at 449p in sympathy.

Mining stocks were among the best and the worst performers on the day, with Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) rallying after the previous session's heavy falls on Autralian super-tax concerns. Rio was up 27p at 3,189.5p, while Billiton added 21p at 1,886p. As investors turned to precious metals for comfort, Fresnillo (LON:FRES) jumped to the top of the leaderboard, up 43.5p at 807p and Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) gained 30p at 5,445p. On the reverse of the coin, Kazakhmys (LON:KAZ) led the blue chip fallers, off 61p at 1,239p, Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) fell 27p at 885.5p and Anglo American (LON:AAL) dropped 38.5p at 2,756.5p. Oil giant Shell fell 62p at 1,840p as crude slipped below $80 a barrel on rising US inventories and a stronger dollar, but BP (LON:BP.) ticked up 6.5p at 565p as it made progress…

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