by kennynah » Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:07 pm
04 Jun 2008 08:50 GMT
LONDON MARKETS: Oil Producers, Miners Sharply Lower As FTSE Drops 80 Points
Sharp losses from oil producers and miners sent the FTSE 100 index firmly through a key level on Wednesday, as investors worried that a key prop for the index could be about to disappear.
The U.K. FTSE 100 index fell 1.3%, or 80 points, to 5,977.70, placing the index on track to close under 6,000 for the first time since the end of April.
In the oil and gas sector, shares of BP fell 2.7%, shares of Royal Dutch Shell lost 2.8% and natural gas producer BG Group slid 3.1%.
Of miners, shares in BHP Billion lost 1.9%, while shares of Anglo American slid 2%.
The losses followed more weakness in oil and gold prices, with light sweet crude futures down 74 cents at $123.58 a barrel in electronic trading and gold futures down $5.30 at $876.30 an ounce.
A weaker dollar has been linked to encouraging investors to buy commodity-price sensitive stocks.
However, on Tuesday, U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke signaled the U.S. could move to support the dollar, which some investors took as a signal that dollar weakness won't be a significant factor in the future, sending crude futures to a near three-week low.
Options Strategies & Discussions
.(Trading Discipline : The Science of Constantly Acting on Knowledge Consistently - kennynah).
Investment Strategies & Ideas
..................................................................<A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control-Proverbs 29:11>.................................................................