FTSE ends lower

Britain's top share index fell on Tuesday, snapping a three-session rally, as further airstrikes against Libya and disruption caused by the earthquake in Japan dented investors' appetite for risk. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was 23.38 points lower, or down 0.4 percent, at 5,762.71, having rallied 2.9 percent over the three previous sessions.
The blue chip index has lost 3.9 percent so far in March. Weakness in heavyweight banks and miners pulled the FTSE 100 lower as investors' recent return of enthusiasm cooled off, with global lender HSBC losing 1.2 percent, and global miner Rio Tinto shedding 1.6 percent.
"Investors remain fickle as the uncertainties in Libya and Japan continue to dominate sentiment," said Mic Mills, head of electronic trading at ETX Capital. "There is little reason for optimism anywhere at the moment, and whatever rallies occur there are always more excuses to pull the index lower rather than push it higher," Mills added.
Companies which make parts for cars, and those which sell them suffered as the Japanese automotive industry remained at a standstill following the earthquake and tsunami which devastated the country over ten days ago. Toyota said on Tuesday that all 12 of its Japanese plants will stay closed until at least Saturday.
Auto parts maker GKN was the biggest blue chip faller, down 3.8 percent, while Johnson Matthey which makes catalytic converters, fell 2.6 percent, and mid-cap motor retailer Inchcape dropped 4.5 percent. Ahead of Wednesday's UK 2011 budget, which is expected to enforce further austerity measures, investors were also unsettled by concerns that an increase in British interest rates was drawing closer after an unexpectedly big rise in inflation.
Official data showed the annual rate of British consumer price inflation rose to 4.4 percent in February, its highest in more than two years, and above the 4.2 percent consensus forecast. "If the inflationary backdrop is worse than ... previously thought, then the pressure on rates to move higher could well be too much to bear for the Bank of England despite fiscal austerity" said Gerard Lane, equity strategist at Shore Capital.
Among individual fallers, travel firm TUI Travel shed 1.9 percent as hopes that its main shareholder TUI AG could launch a mop-up bid for the firm took a dent after a decision to float containner shipping unit Hapag-Lloyd, part-owned by the German firm, was postponed. Fellow travel-related firm Carnival fell 3.1 percent, as the cruises operator was hit by worries over fuel costs.
Brent crude oil prices pushed back up towards multi-year highs as Western warplanes continued to hit targets in Libya. Integrated oils & gas was the best performing blue chip sector led by BG Group, ahead 1.6 percent. Oil explorer Cairn Energy gained 2 percent as it posted a return to profit in 2010 and also raised expectations of Indian approval for the long-delayed sale of a stake in its Indian business to Vedanta Resources, down 1.7 percent. Indian-focused peer Essar Energy rebounded 2.1 percent higher after its sharp post-results falls on Monday, with Deutsche Bank repeating its "buy" rating on the stock.