London shares weak at open on final session of Q1 on New York, Asia drops

At 9.11 am, the FTSE 100 index was 95.2 points lower at 5,597.7, with all the broader FTSE indices weaker. Early volume was fair, with 292 million shares changing hands in 79,511 deals.
   
Pre-weekend on Wall Street, the DJIA closed 86.06 points lower at 12,216.40, while the S&P 500 index shed 10.54 to end at 1,315.22, and the Nasdaq composite index lost 19.65 points to 2,261.18.
   
Wall Street retreated as the financial health of the consumer came into focus following a report that showed personal spending was at its weakest level in 17 months, and after a profit warning from retailer J.C. Penney.
   
And the selling continued today in Asia. The Nikkei 225 index ended 344.67 points weaker at 12,475.80, while the Hang Seng index finished its morning session 445.82 points lower at 22,840.13 tracking Wall Street's retreat.
   
In London, broker comment was the main focus for the blue chips fallers early on, with Vodafone, British Airways, and ITV all suffering following cuts in ratings today.
   
ITV was the top FTSE 100 faller, down 4.2 pence at 63.7 after UBS downgraded its stance to 'sell' from 'neutral' and reduced its target to 60 pence from 70, citing worries over an advertising slowdown.
   
UBS said advertisers would be likely to respond to slowing consumer spend and margin pressures. Vodafone shares shed 7.5 pence at 149.5 after a double-downgrade by Morgan Stanley to 'underweight' from 'overweight', and a lowering of its target on the stock by 21 pct to 170 pence, as part of a review of the telecoms sector.
   
The broker said the downgrade of Vodafone reflects the group's exposure to a likely decision by the European Commission to bring forward a recommendation to aggressively lower Mobile Termination Rates.
  
Morgan Stanley also raised its rating for BT Group to 'equal-weight' from 'underweight' in the sector review, but the stock failed to respond early on, down 3 pence at 213.
   
And British Airways fell back 9-1/4 pence to 230-3/4 after Goldman Sachs double-downgraded its rating too, to 'sell' from 'buy', with the price target slashed to 200 pence from 330 also within an airlines sector review.