Blue-chip stocks suffering against weak oil price

1p to 2,096.5p and mining giant falling 2.5p to 772p.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets, said: “The energy market has been exceptionally volatile lately, and now that the market is pulling back some of this week’s losses the price is certainly steadier.

“Oil has been in a textbook downtrend since the Opec meeting in late May, and that fits in with the wider move lower we have seen since March.

“Selling the rally has proved fruitful in recent weeks and since the same old worries about over-supply persist the bearish sentiment will hang around for some time.”

Across Europe, Germany’s

fell 0.4 per cent and the in France slipped 0.3 per cent despite economic activity in the eurozone touching a six-year high in the second quarter.

The closely watched IHS Markit Eurozone purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 56.4 for the three months to June, up from 55.6 in the first quarter of 2017.

However, it was countered by eurozone data for this month showing economic activity had come in at its lowest level for five months at 55.7, slipping from a joint six-year peak of 56.8 in May.

Focusing on the currency markets, the pound was enjoying an uplift against the US dollar after America’s worsethan-expected economic news sent it 0.4 per cent higher at 1.27.

Sterling was also buoyed by hawkish comments from outgoing Bank of England rate setter Kristin Forbes, who gave a speech late on Thursday saying record-low interest rates are no longer justified.

The UK currency was against the euro at 1.136.

flat

In UK stocks, raced ahead after being handed a broker upgrade from JP Morgan to overweight from neutral.

Shares in the broadcaster climbed more than three per cent, or 5.9p to 182.8p.

In contrast, slipped 14.5p to 650p after being downgraded by JP Morgan to neutral from overweight.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 Index were up 5.9p to 182.8p, up 45p to 1,605p, up 39p to 1,620, up 4.2p to 198.4p, up 4.5p to 271.4p

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 Index were

down 60p to 2,359p, down 107.5p to 4,518.5p, down 17.5p to 757p,

down 14.5p to

650p. US stock indexes nudged higher yesterday after energy firms clawed back some of their sharp losses from earlier in the week.

After meandering up and down, the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 3.80 points, or 0.2 per cent, to end at 2,438.30.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 2.53 points, or less than 0.1 per cent, to 21,394.76, and the Nasdaq composite gained 28.56, or 0.5 per cent, to 6,265.25.

Energy stocks led the way, and those in the S&P 500 climbed 0.8 per cent for the largest gain of the 11 sectors that make up the index. Rising prices for oil and natural gas drove the gains. Benchmark US crude added 27 cents to settle at 43.01 US dollars per barrel. Brent crude gained 32 cents to 45.54 dollars.

a producer of natural gas and crude, had the day’s biggest gain in the S&P 500 and jumped 4.16 dollars, or eight per cent, to 56.19 dollars. climbed 88 cents, or 3.8 per cent, to 23.74 dollars.

What kept broad indexes afloat for the week were big gains for health care and technology stocks. The S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent for the week.

Health care stocks climbed as the Senate unveiled its proposal to revamp medical care. Technology companies are forecast to report strong growth.

Yesterday’s biggest S&P 500 faller was

The retailer’s shares fell 12.1 per cent, to 29.65 dollars after weaker earnings than expected.