London close: Equities close lower as oil prices tumble continues

UK equities finished Monday’s session in negative territory as oil prices remained under pressure and as the US was closed for Martin Luther King Jr Day.

The absence of volumes from US investors and continued slide in oil prices left the stock market “sleepy”, according to Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets.

“As has become the custom recently; it was the volatile price of oil that set the tone for equity trading,” he said.

“A bounce off the lows set in Asian trading for crude oil helped an encouraging start for European equities but as oil prices slid back, equities fell into the red.”

At 1636 GMT, Brent crude fell 0.66% to $28.75 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate declined 1.3% to $29.04 per barrel. The decline came as Iran sanctions were lifted, sparking concerns that the supply glut could worsen.

Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China said on Monday it will start implementing a reserve requirement ratio (RRR) on offshore banks' domestic deposits to restrict speculation on further depreciation of the yuan and stem capital outflows. Following the announcement the spot yuan strengthened 0.06% against the dollar.

Global financial markets have been volatile in recent weeks after the PBoC allowed the yuan to fall sharply before moving aggressively to try to steady the currency.

The central bank is reportedly planning to raise the RRR next week for yuan deposits placed in yuan clearing banks to the normal level.

In UK news, a report from Rightmove showed house prices rose 6.5% in January compared to a year ago. However, between December 2015 and January 2016 asking prices increase just 0.5%. Shares in housebuilders Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments and Berkeley Group slumped following the report.

Among other corporate stocks, Sports Direct was under the cosh after one of the retailer’s major investors voiced its concerns about its relationship with Nike as well as its website offering. The investor believes that Sports Direct’s growth may be slowing as a result of not stocking enough of Nike’s latest ranges.

Shire edged higher after Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’ and reiterated its 5,700p price target following the company’s agreed merger with Baxalta.

Centamin took a hit on the back of reports in the Financial Times that total production gold was set to decline by 3% in the year ahead, following a 1% increase in gold mine production to 3,155 tonnes in 2015.

Barclays was sitting lower following reports that it is drawing up plans to sell part of its 625 stake in Barclays Africa Group, the entity that houses most of its African business.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,782.53 -0.37%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 15,959.07 -1.25%
techMARK (TASX) 3,054.35 -0.62%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Glencore (GLEN) 75.04p 2.10%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,143.00p 1.96%
Unilever (ULVR) 2,849.50p 1.82%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 950.00p 1.82%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,251.00p 1.72%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,241.00p 1.72%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,565.00p 1.44%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,436.00p 1.33%
Carnival (CCL) 3,652.00p 1.25%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,197.00p 0.93%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Sports Direct International (SPD) 390.60p -4.59%
DCC (DCC) 5,000.00p -2.72%
Fresnillo (FRES) 673.50p -2.39%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,427.00p -2.36%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,903.00p -2.29%
Pearson (PSON) 693.00p -2.19%
Barclays (BARC) 187.70p -2.14%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 180.00p -2.12%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 566.50p -2.07%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,901.00p -2.03%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aldermore Group (ALD) 189.00p 4.42%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 2,515.00p 2.32%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 2,169.00p 2.07%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 320.00p 2.01%
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 1,846.00p 1.43%
Betfair Group (BET) 3,809.00p 1.41%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 390.10p 1.38%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 406.10p 1.25%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,678.00p 1.02%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 707.00p 1.00%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Allied Minds (ALM) 298.00p -9.64%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 205.10p -8.97%
Card Factory (CARD) 328.80p -5.87%
Marshalls (MSLH) 306.80p -5.66%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 231.20p -5.56%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 210.70p -5.47%
Diploma (DPLM) 658.00p -5.26%
Keller Group (KLR) 782.00p -4.98%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 62.75p -4.92%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 80.90p -4.88%