Shares drop in London as natural resources sector weighs
The index dropped by 0.1%, or 10.67 points, to end the day at 7,898.77.
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Your support makes all the difference.It was another subdued day on London’s main stock index as the FTSE 100 fell slightly, pushed lower by the influential natural resources sector.
The index dropped by 0.1%, or 10.67 points, to end the day at 7,898.77.
It came as oil giant BP joined miners Anglo American and Rio Tinto among others towards the bottom of the index.
Oil prices, measured by the international standard Brent crude, dropped by 1.6% on Wednesday to around 83.44 dollars when markets were closing in Europe.
But the fall for these companies was largely offset, in no small part thanks to a strong performance for the shares of British American Tobacco.
Alongside its annual shareholder meeting, the business said it was on track to meet guidance for this year, to make £5 billion a year from its new category segment and that the segment would be profitable next year, ahead of schedule.
The rise in BAT’s fortunes also seemed to impact rival Imperial Brands, whose shares also rose towards the top of the FTSE.
In the US the S&P 500 index was trading down 0.2% while the Dow Jones was down 0.3% around the time that markets in Europe were closing.
Shares in Germany’s Dax rose 0.1% while France’s Cac 40 saw a 0.2% increase.
The pound was trading up slightly at 2.244 dollars and 1.135 euros.
In company news, shares in Just Eat Takeaway were largely unimpacted despite the company upping its earnings guidance for the year.
The business said it expected to do better than previously guided, despite seeing a 14% fall in orders in the first quarter of the year.
Shares rose by 0.2%.
Shares in GSK were flat, also shrugging off the news that 750 of its workers had voted to strike after rejecting a 6% pay rise and a bonus.
Unite said workers at six sites across the country would spread out their strikes in May.
Meanwhile National Express reported an 87% hike in the revenue it made from its scheduled coaches in the first quarter, compared with the same period a year ago.
It said train strikes had benefited the group, and of course last year was also hit by Covid in the first few months. Shares rose by 4.3%.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were BAT, up 106p to 2,941.75p, Admiral Group, up 47p to 2,280.5p, Smith & Nephew, up 25p to 1,222.25p, Hiscox, up 19p to 1,124p, and Imperial Brands, up 31p to 1,949.25p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Ocado, down 11.8p to 519.6p, Halma, down 49.0p to 2,197p, JD Sports, down 3.0p to 163.6p, Kingfisher, down 4.5p to 258.1p, and BT, down 2.7p to 157.65p.