London stocks fall as oil price rises again
The value of London’s 100 leading stocks fell further today after the weak dollar and a pick-up in the price of oil dealt a double blow to investors.
With the cost of a barrel of crude back near the $50 mark, a number of stocks exposed to higher energy costs fell heavily.
Downbeat comments from Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan on the weak US dollar also affected the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday and left the FTSE 100 Index 35.5 points lower at 4725.3 by mid-morning.
The fall, which followed a 40-point dip for the Footsie on Friday, was mirrored elsewhere in Europe.
British Airways was one of the biggest fallers as renewed concerns over the airline’s fuel bill caused the blue-chip stock to dip 2% or 5.5p to 218.25p.
It was joined on the way down by steel maker Corus, off a penny at 52.25p, and packaging giant Rexam, which slipped 2.75p to 448.5p.
The market’s weakness was also seen in mining stocks with BHP Billiton down 15p at 580p, Anglo American off 31p at 1257p and Xstrata 22p lower at 906p.
Among a handful of stocks in positive territory, telecoms group mmO2 continued to strengthen after last week’s positive news on its expected maiden dividend. Shares were up 0.25p at 114.75p.
Outside the top flight, shares in estate agency group Countrywide remained under pressure after Friday’s warning of a 33% fall in transactions. The stock, which fell 5% before the weekend, slipped another 2% or 6p to 276p.
Despite the rising oil price, low-cost airline easyJet bucked the downward trend with a 2% gain – up 4.25p to 184p.
The improvement was achieved ahead of results from the group tomorrow, as well as continued speculation about the 10% stake now held in the airline by Icelandair.
