London close: UK stocks finish lower after choppy session, Shell sinks

UK stocks finished another choppy session slightly lower as investors digested a barrage of global economic data and corporate earnings, central bank moves and political developments in Greece.

London’s FTSE 100 closed at 6,811, down 0.2% on the day with the energy sector providing a drag after oil major Royal Dutch Shell missed quarterly forecasts and scaled back its investment budget.

Wall Street equity markets got off to a mixed start as data showing a sharp drop in US jobless claims to their lowest since 2000 was outweighed by a decline in US pending-home sales. Earnings from newly-listed Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba also missed estimates, causing shares to tumble.

Economic data in Germany showed that while unemployment eased in January, consumer prices fell on an annual basis for the first time in over five years.

Meanwhile, comments from the US Federal Reserve continued to weigh on investors’ minds after policymakers said on Wednesday night that they would remain “patient” about the timing of the first interest rate hike.

The Danish central bank cut interest rates for the third time in less than two weeks. The deposit rate was taken deeper into negative territory, to -0.5%, to battle upwards pressure on its currency.

Greece was also still in focus in the aftermath of Syriza’s election victory at the weekend, as new prime minister Alexis Tsipras looks to renegotiate the terms of the bailout with the country’s creditors. The new government is now thought to be looking to veto new proposed sanctions by the EU on Russia.

Energy stocks sink as Shell disappoints

Shell dropped nearly 5% after reporting a 12% year-on-year increase in adjusted profits in the fourth quarter to $3.3bn, well below the consensus forecast of $4.2bn. The company also announced that had cut over $15bn of potential spending over the next three years.

“To keep investors sweet the oil company announced a healthy dividend, but that wasn’t enough to win back traders' confidence as the enormous cut to capital expenditure signals cautious times ahead,” said analyst David Madden from IG.

Afren, BP and Tullow Oil were all trading firmly in the red. Smaller producer Soco International also underwhelmed with its 2015 production guidance, as it cut its spending budget for this year.

Meanwhile, mining stocks were weaker with precious metal producers among the worst performers as gold prices dropped their most in a month. Mexican miner Fresnillo and Africa-focused peer Randgold were falling sharply.

One bright spark was Easyjet, surging over 6% after an upgrade by Barclays Capital to ‘overweight’. The bank said Easy jet was “one of the best low cost carrier business models in Europe”.

Smirnoff maker Diageo shot up after the drinks giant delivered a much improved performance in the second quarter with stronger net sales, volumes and margins.

ASOS was out of fashion as the online clothing retailer revealed that its chief executive had sold £20.2 million-worth of shares.

Royal Mail fell after its chairman of five years, Donald Brydon, announced plans step down.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,082.42 -0.04%
FTSE 100 6,810.60 -0.22%
FTSE 250 16,359.02 -0.41%

FTSE 100 - Risers
easyJet (EZJ) 1,876.00p +6.17%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,033.00p +3.82%
Diageo (DGE) 2,022.50p +3.08%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 470.40p +2.77%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 137.60p +2.46%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 487.80p +2.14%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,160.00p +2.03%
Unilever (ULVR) 2,952.00p +1.90%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,720.00p +1.78%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,558.00p +1.76%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Fresnillo (FRES) 862.50p -5.22%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,138.00p -4.89%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,060.00p -4.34%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,420.00p -2.95%
Glencore (GLEN) 250.40p -2.93%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 655.00p -2.75%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,297.00p -2.60%
Carnival (CCL) 3,000.00p -2.22%
BG Group (BG.) 880.90p -1.88%
BP (BP.) 424.85p -1.87%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Rank Group (RNK) 178.00p +7.29%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 598.50p +6.88%
Infinis Energy (INFI) 196.20p +4.92%
Saga (SAGA) 192.00p +3.78%
IP Group (IPO) 233.50p +3.32%
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 500.50p +2.75%
National Express Group (NEX) 263.10p +2.65%
Brit (BRIT) 264.50p +2.52%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 196.70p +2.39%
Poundland Group (PLND) 353.60p +2.37%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Afren (AFR) 4.20p -10.64%
PayPoint (PAY) 827.00p -5.97%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 271.20p -5.90%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 64.70p -5.89%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 787.50p -5.41%
Soco International (SIA) 265.00p -5.36%
Hunting (HTG) 394.30p -4.92%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 371.00p -4.77%
Serco Group (SRP) 152.70p -4.32%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 725.00p -4.23%