LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Struggles, With HSBC, Big Oil Names Under Pressure

By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

Royal Mail hit by broker downgrade

MADRID (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks were looking down the barrel of a third session of losses on Tuesday, weighed down as heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC continued to feel the sting of tax-evasion revelations, and as big-oil names stumbled alongside falling oil prices.

Worries over Greece also kept a lid on enthusiasm for perceived riskier assets. The FTSE 100 index fell 0.5% to 6,802.37, as other European indexes also slipped into the red. Those markets have been suffering amid escalating brinkmanship between Greece and its eurozone partners.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has reportedly asked eurozone finance ministers for a EUR10 billion ($11.3 billion) bridging loan, and will present his proposal at Wednesday's meeting of euro-area finance ministers in Brussels.

The most heavily weighted U.K. stock in the index, HSBC (HSBC) , fell 1.8%, on the heels of a 1.6% drop Monday. That decline came after media reports focused on fresh details of tax-evasion claims at the bank and its dealings with dictators and arms dealers.

Read: HSBC should be probed, Democratic senator says

Other heavyweight banks were also weighing on the index, with Barclays PLC (BCS) dropping 1.5% and Standard Chartered PLC off 2%.

Oil names fell as oil prices continued to back away from recent gains. March crude futures (CLH5) were down 76 cents to $52.10 a barrel. Shares of BP PLC (BP) dropped 1%, and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) (RDSB) lost 1%.

A broker downgrade hit shares of Royal Mail Group PLC . The mail carrier was off nearly 4% after J.P. Morgan Cazenove cut it to neutral from overweight, citing a "diminished risk/reward profile" and concerns about a near-term decline of consensus estimates.

While decliners outstripped gainers, retailer Marks & Spencer Group PLC was among the stocks moving in a positive direction, up 2%.

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