Footsie in the red
The FTSE 100 Index was dragged into the red today as oil and energy stocks weighed heavily on the market.
Strong performances from a number of blue chip stocks were not enough to drive the Footsie forward and it stood 16.3 points at 5609.8 by mid morning - mirroring losses overnight in New York and Asia.
The miners were enjoying a mixed session following the weakening of the price of copper and other metals. Anglo American pushed to the top of the risers’ board – up 2% or 47p to 2042 – and was tracked by Rio Tinto with a gain of 2p to 2690p.
Going the other way was Kazakhmys down 28p to 1036p, which was joined by Footsie newcomers Vedanta Resources – off 13p to 1258 – and Lonmin – down 29p to 2518p.
Oil stocks were hit as the price of crude eased, with heavyweight BP 8.5p lower at 587p and Royal Dutch Shell down 23p to 1749p.
And nuclear power firm British Energy was in retreat after its full-year results failed to inspire investors. Shares were down 7.5p to 680p after it posted operating profits of £635 million and pre-tax profits of £599 million for the year to March 31 and said that output was running slightly behind schedule.
Elsewhere, shares in leisure group Whitbread rose 14p to 1111p after it announced plans to expand its Costa Coffee chain into China. The company also reported a 6.9% increase in total sales for the 13 weeks to June 1 with a like-for-like rise of 1.6%.
Shares in media group Emap cheered half a penny to 867p after it said it has sold its struggling French division to the Italian publisher of glossy magazine Grazia for £380 million.
Following the sale to Arnoldo Mondadori Editore some £285 million - representing 75% of the proceeds – will be returned to shareholders, Emap said.
