Equities markets were lower in London on Monday, but the declines were not nearly as big as those seen in Asia on the session. The FTSE 100 was 0.9 percent lower to 6,058.7, while the FTSE 250 fell 1.7 percent to 10,857.9. The 100 was below the 6,000 level for the first time since October during part of the session but was able to regain some of those losses as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up slightly as the London session closed.
Miners and the oil sector suffered losses as commodities prices fell. Xstrata (LSE: XTA) fell 1.4 percent to £23.32, while Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) dropped 2.3 percent to £10.61 and Vedanta Resources was 3.1 percent lower to £11.80.
Among oil companies, Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSA, RDSB; NYSE: RDS A, RDS B) was down 0.8 percent to £16.21. BP (LSE: BP; NYSE: BP; TYO: 5051) fell 1.1 percent to 511½p. Meanwhile, Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) dropped 2.7 percent to £15.49, making it more likely that it will be delisted from the FTSE after tomorrow’s review.
British Airways (LSE: BAY; NYSE: BAB), which usually benefits from lower oil prices, still dropped 6.6 on the day to 497p on several issues, including a possible loss of earnings if an “open skies” agreement allows more carriers to fly trans-Atlantic routes out of Heathrow.
In the banking sector, HSBC (LSE: HSBA; NYSE: HBC; Euronext: HSBC; SEKH: 005) bucked the general losing trend to add 1.1 percent to 896p after it said that its pre-tax profits were up 4 percent in its full-year report.