FTSE slips below 5500
The FTSE 100 Index slipped below the 5500 barrier today as lower copper prices scuppered progress by miners.
Xstrata and BHP Billiton were among the worst-hit blue-chips, while losses by oil heavyweights also weighed on the market.
This contributed to the Footsie falling 25.8 points to 5495.3 despite a clutch of property firms doing their best to lift the mood.
Weak copper prices made Xstrata the heaviest top flight faller, losing more than 2% of its value or 31p to 1326p. BHP Billiton weakened 12.5p to 878.5p and was followed on the way down by Rio Tinto, losing 32p to 2455p.
Oil giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell were out of favour after officials in the United States revealed stocks of crude have continued to rise in spite of the onset of winter.
Shares in BP fell 6p to 624p and Shell was 30p cheaper at 1843p as the cost of crude oil hovered around 61 US dollars a barrel. Cairn Energy was also in the red – down 22p to 1876p – while BG group slipped 3p to 549p.
But there was better news for property developers, who helped stop the market slipping further into the red. Land Securities was the session’s highest climber, up 49p to 1659p, while British Land gained 20.5p to 1023.5p to stand just below its all-time high of 1044p, and Hammerson jumped 19p to 999p.
Aljit Vohra, a trader at CMC Markets, said gains were triggered by broker JP Morgan raising the target price of shares in British Land and others in the sector.
In the FTSE 250 Index, tour operator MyTravel rose 6% or 12.25p to 205.25p after its annual operating profits reached £55.2m (€81m). The group said its turnaround plan would have been a year ahead of schedule if oil prices had not been so high.
Telecoms firm Spirent was up 2%, adding a penny to 51.5p after it agreed to sell is network products division for £289m (€426m) in a bid to focus on its core communications arm. Investors were also cheered by news that trading would be in line with expectations.
But the London Stock Exchange fell 2p to 620p after Australian bank Macquarie went hostile with a £1.5 billion bid that its board has already called “derisory”.
Power station Drax slipped to 490p on its first day of dealings in London after listing at 500p.
And car rental company Avis Europe also suffered after it said current trading was in line with hopes, but warned rising interest costs would have an impact next year. The stock weakened 1.25p to 68.25p, a fall of almost 2%.
The highest Footsie climbers today were Land Securities up 49p to 1659p, PartyGaming adding 4p to 136.5p, Kingfisher up 5p to 234p and British Land adding 20.5p to 1023.5p.
The heaviest fallers were Xstrata down 31p to 1326p, 3i Group losing 18.5p to 846.5p, Carnival off 54p to 3226p and Royal Dutch Shell down 30p to 1843p.
