Sector movers: FTSE 100 broadly flat, as oil and gas blue chips tumble

The London market ended broadly flat on Friday, with oil and gas blue chips taking a hit as the weekend approached.

The FTSE 100 ended a mere 0.07% or 4.70 points higher at 6,334.63, while the FTSE 250 closed just 0.26% or 44.39 points higher at 17,189.11. Oil benchmarks stayed within range of recent levels hounded by oversupply concerns.

At 1655 GMT, the Brent front-month futures contract was up a mere 0.18% or eight cents to $44.26 per barrel, having risen as high as $44.50 in early trading before shedding the gains. Meanwhile, WTI was 1.28% or 52 cents lower at $40.02 per barrel, with both major contracts fluctuating within the $2 range, and declines being more pronounced in the case of the WTI.

Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said downward pressure on oil prices could force Saudi Arabia to de-peg its currency from the dollar and in turn weigh further on emerging market growth next year.

Invariably, blue chips BG Group (down 1.88%) and Royal Dutch Shell (‘b’ shares down 1.06%) were among the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100, accompanied by banking stocks with Barclays (down 3.50%) and Lloyds Banking Group (down 2.11%).

Midcaps Ophir Energy (down 7.95%), Amec Foster Wheeler (down 4.86%), Premier Oil (down 4.67%) and Petrofac (down 3.80%) were among the biggest FTSE 250 fallers, but Nostrum Oil & Gas (up 6.42%) bucked the trend.

On a more positive note, Old Mutual (up 2.42%) and Aberdeen Asset Management (up 1.89%) went the other way with Royal Mail (up 2.50%) among the biggest FTSE 100 risers.

Meanwhile, base metals recovered from recent lows in late afternoon European trading on short covering calls. The three-month copper delivery futures contract, trading at six-year lows, rose 1.2% to $4,653.00 per metric tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

Additionally, primary aluminium (up 1.8%), nickel (up 0.1%), tin (up 1.5%), zinc (up 3.9%) and lead (up 2.4%) futures also posted upticks. The movement reduced declines in major mining sector stocks, with the headline mining sector index ending the week down a mere 0.50% at 8,301.14 points. Antofagasta (up 1.40%) among the biggest risers from the mining sector.