FTSE closes up for a fifth day in spite of volatility in oil firms – London Report
THE FTSE 100 yesterday held on to gains as its pre-Christmas rally continued for a fifth consecutive trading session. However, oil-related stocks went from being among the best performers in morning trade to among the worst by the close as the oil price again failed to hold on to an early rise.
In low trading volumes, the FTSE 100 closed up 0.5 per cent at 6,576.74.
Among the energy companies, Tullow Oil lost all its gains to close down 4.05 per cent lower at 407p.
BG fell 1.69 per cent to 886.10p. But Afren added 3.83 per cent to 4,939p as the oil explorer revealed a bid approach from Nigeria’s Seplat Petroleum Development.
As gold slipped back, Randgold Resources fell 6.34 per cent to 4,150p.
Among the risers, B&Q owner Kingfisher climbed 1.82 per cent to 330.10p as it sold a 70 per cent stake in its loss-making Chinese business to Wumei Holdings for £140m.
But Pets at Home dropped six per cent to 199.10p. And Tesco was one of the worst blue chip performers, closing down 2.37 per cent at 181p.