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London lower; Barclays down as Diamond testifies

MADRID (MarketWatch) -- Barclays PLC was among banks under pressure Wednesday in London as that group's ex-chief executive officer, Bob Diamond, testified before a U.K. parliamentary panel, while the absence of Wall Street trade kept volumes light.

The FTSE 100 index (UKX) fell 0.1% to 5,684.47, following a 0.8% rise the prior session, driven mostly by gains for commodity-related stocks.

U.S. markets were closed for the Fourth of July holiday.

Diamond, who resigned a day earlier along with the company's chief operating officer, said he was "physically sick" upon learning of the actions of Barclays traders whose actions led to false reporting of the rates the bank was paying for interbank loans. Diamond said he stepped down to spare the bank more intense scrutiny but said the institution was bearing the brunt of the fallout from an international rate-fixing probe because it was the first bank to settle.

Diamond said that he didn't take a conversation with Bank of England Deputy Governor Paul Tucker in 2008 as a signal the bank should lower its Libor submissions.

Shares of Barclays (BARC) (BCS) fell 0.6%, while HSBC Holdings PLC(HSBA) (HBC) dropped 0.5% and Lloyds Banking Group PLC(LLOY) slipped 0.5%.

Energy stocks were also trading lower as oil prices pulled back from five-week highs reached the prior day. Shares of BP PLC(BP) (BP.) fell 0.5% and Tullow Oil PLC(TLW) dropped 1.9%.

Shares of Glencore International PLC(GLEN) rose 2.7%. A day earlier, shareholder activist fund Knight Vinke Asset Management said it will vote against the proposed merger between the commodity giant and Xstrata PLC(XTA) unless Glencore lifts its offer for the miner. Xstrata shares rose 1.8%.

Data released Wednesday showed a slowing pace of growth for the U.K.'s services sector in June. The Markit purchasing managers index fell to 51.3 from 53.3 in May, the lowest reading since October.

Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said the data help cement "the case for further stimulus from the Bank of England," which concludes its monetary-policy meeting Thursday and is widely expected to deliver another round of quantitative easing.