LONDON – Britain’s top share index edged lower on Monday, hit after a rebound in oil and metal prices ground to a halt following a tentative rebound last week.
The FTSE 100 index was down 30.64 points, or 0.5 percent, at 5,869.37 by 0906 GMT, having rallied at the tail-end of last week to post its first weekly rise of 2016.
The market was led lower by weaker oil shares, with the energy sector trimming 11 points off the index.
Crude prices fell back after rising early on Monday, giving away some of Friday’s 10 percent rally, with the market still well oversupplied despite temporary short-covering.
They fall in oil weighed on the commodity-heavy FTSE 100, which entered a bear market last week, meaning it had fallen 20 percent from a record high hit last April.
“The initial blip higher in the FTSE 100 was met by a wave of selling this morning,” said Manoj Ladwa, head of trading at TJM Partners. “As is the case almost on a daily basis, commodity and oil related stocks are leading the index lower.”
Mining stocks were also among the top fallers, down 2.1 percent, as copper eased off a two-week high.
Lloyds Bank dropped 2.8 percent, among top fallers, after JP Morgan cut its target price on the stock.
It retained an “overweight” rating on Lloyds, however, saying that it was well positioned among UK banks even as margins came under pressure from continued low interest rates.
“Despite revenue pressure from a lower for longer UK rate environment, we believe that Lloyds is best positioned within the sector to complete its balance sheet transformation and become a dividend growth story,” analysts at JP Morgan wrote.
Kingfisher fell 1.7 percent after outlining strategic plans that will hit profits over two years.
Reuters
