Fall in oil price sees Footsie close lower

Perry Gourley

A falling oil price pushed the FTSE 100 down although it recovered some of the losses made earlier in the day.

At one point the index fell below the 6,930 level it had closed at on 31 December 1999 amid worries over the strength of global demand and concerns of oversupply in the oil market. It closed the day down 7.46 at 6,952.8.

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “It’s perhaps fitting that on Black Friday, tumbling oil stocks have slashed the price of the FTSE 100.

“It’s tempting to conclude that the last 19 years have been a total wipeout for investors, but that would ignore the effect of dividends, which aren’t counted in the FTSE 100.”

Khalaf said that investors in the UK stock market have actually almost doubled their money since 1999 if reinvested dividends were taken into account.

Outsourcing group Capita said it will pump £176 million into its pension scheme as part of a deficit recovery plan.

Capita, which has been under fire for failing to send 45,000 NHS letters, said the payment is in line with commitment made in January to reduce the pension deficit over the medium term as a priority and reflects higher than expected disposal proceeds. Shares closed down 1.65 per cent at 108.5p.

After the market closed, tidal energy firm Simec Atlantis said it had agreed to acquire Perth and Dingwall-based Simec Green Highland Renewables, which owns a number of hydro projects in Scotland, in a £124.7m deal with the Simec group, part of the GFG Alliance.