Rising oil price sparks FTSE fall
London shares remained firmly in negative territory today as soaring oil prices continued to take their toll on the market.
The FTSE 100 Index retreated 24 points to stand at 5090.4 by mid-morning.
The City was following in the footsteps of a sharp fall in equities in New York as the price of a barrel of US light crude topped $60.
Oil and gas exploration groups were doing well on the back of higher crude prices, with Shell lifting 2.75p to 520.5p and BP advancing 1.5p to 589p, although BG Group stood unchanged at 456.5p.
British Airways was the second highest faller – down 6.25p to 272.75p – after it blamed the continued rise in oil prices for pressuring it into lifting its fuel surcharge on flights.
Supermarket giant Tesco was marginally lower despite announcing that its sales were running 14.6% higher than a year earlier. Shares were half a penny cheaper at 317.5p.
