FTSE 100 dips as commodity giants drag on trading

The FTSE dipped into the red on Monday as commodity and housing firms were among the fallers. Weak sessions for the UK’s oil majors were a particular drag during a largely timid trading session. London’s top flight moved 0.13%, or 9.88 points, lower to finish at 7,554.49. Across Europe , trading sentiment was also cautious as economists particularly look towards the influential US inflation data set to be released later this week.Germany’s Dax index was 0.01% lower for the day while the Cac 40 closed up 0.09%. The day’s trading has been a mixed bag for the UK benchmark with basic resources acting as a drag on the wider market, along with weakness in the energy sector Michael Hewson, CMC Markets UK Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: ‘It’s been a negative start for markets in Europe today with little in the way of positive drivers helping to sustain the rebound that we saw on Friday in the wake of the July jobs report out of the US. ‘The day’s trading has been a mixed bag for the UK benchmark with basic resources acting as a drag on the wider market, along with weakness in the energy sector. ‘The big caps of Glencore, Anglo American , BP and Shell are acting as the main drag on the UK benchmark.’ In the US, the main markets opened higher in a rebound from Friday’s late sell-off, which came as Apple stock tumbled towards two-month lows. Meanwhile, sterling had a positive session against the dollar amid suggestions from economists that an end to Bank of England rate hikes could soon be in sight. The pound was up 0.16% to 1.277 US dollars and was 0.28% higher at 1.160 euros at market close in London . In company news, Rolls-Royce was among the top performers after brokers from JP Morgan improved their rating for shares in the engineering giant. It swapped its ‘sell’ rating to ‘neutral’ after last week’s positive earnings update, taking its shares around 140% higher for the past 12 months. Shares rose by 3p to 209.5p by the close of play. Industry rival Melrose also made gains on the back of positivity surrounding the sector, closing 13.8p higher at 543.2p. High street retailer Card Factory jumped higher after it told shareholders that trading for the year is set to be ‘materially ahead’ of previous predictions. It said sales over the six months to July have been ‘strong’ in a timely update, amid reports that rival Clintons Cards is planning to shut around a fifth of its store estate. Card Factory shares were up 14.4p at 103.2p. LSL Properties saw shares slide by 30p to 252p after the mortgage and estate agency services business was another victim of the recent slowdown in the property market. The price of oil slipped back as traders sought to take profits after prices had edged up to their highest levels for four months. A barrel of Brent crude oil fell by 1.14% to 85.26 US dollars at the time markets were closing in London. The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 were Melrose Industries, up 13.8p at 543.2p, Rolls-Royce, up 3p at 209.5p, BAE Systems, up 14p at 1,023p, 3i Group, up 25.5p at 1,925.5p, and Airtel Africa, up 1.4p at 115.8p. The biggest fallers in the index were Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, down 15.8p at 693.6p, B&M, down 11p at 533.6p, Anglo American, down 42p at 2,200.5p, Endeavour, down 30p at 1,709p, and JD Sports, down 2.45p at 146.8p.