Fears over Middle East crisis send FTSE tumbling
The FTSE 100 index fell for the seventh time out of the previous eight sessions, as the impact of the continuing troubles in Libya hit market sentiment. With fears over the world's economy rising, the FTSE dropped by a further 0.4 per cent, reaching 5912, following the losses of 1 per cent sustained on Tuesday.
Chris Bradshaw
shareprices.com - Wednesday, March 02, 2011
The index has plunged over 3 per cent since peaking on 28 February, hitting 22 month highs. The price of oil continued to play its part in trading, rising further towards $116 per barrel. The continuing increase is resulting from the unrest in Libya, the 12th biggest exporter of oil, with a full blown civil war now seeming increasingly likely. Investors are edgy about the prospect of the turmoil spreading to nearby Saudi Arabia, the biggest global oil exporter.
Energy companies suffered in trading, despite the increase in oil costs as fears of demand being choked offset potential gains. Royal Dutch Shell and Essar Energy both fell by 1.1 per cent while Petrofac dropped over 2 per cent.
The miners had a mixed bag of fortunes with Xstrata and BHP Billiton falling, down 0.7 and 0.5 per cent respectively. However Verdanta Resources added 2.3 per cent and Lonmin climbed 0.8 per cent in a sector full of ups and downs.
The standout performer of the day on the leaderboard was Standard Chartered jumping upward by 3.7 per cent as its results showed a 19 per cent climb in profits and announced that 2011 had seen a record launch with markets in China, Asia and India all proving to have big margins.
The biggest faller seen in Tuesday trading was Whitbread, suffering as it announced a shrinkage of growth in the Premier Inn branch of its operation, leading to a drop of 3.9 per cent.
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