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Energy firms lift FTSE 100 Economic fears push FTSE 100 lower
(2 days later)
(Close): Energy shares helped to lift the market as the price of Brent crude oil held steady near to $80 a barrel. (Midday): London's benchmark index was under pressure on Thursday after weak economic data from China and the eurozone.
Tullow Oil shares rose 3.6% while BP ticked up 1.2%. Brent crude was trading at $78.78 a barrel, having hit $79.95 earlier in the session. The FTSE 100 was down 40 points, or 0.6%, at 6,878.5, led by falls in heavyweight miners Rio Tinto, Anglo American and BHP Billiton.
The benchmark FTSE 100 index closed up 37.16 points at 6,709.13. They sank more than 2.5% on news that China's factory activity had slowed.
The mood among investors was also boosted by news of a snap election in Japan, bringing hopes of more stimulus measures in the country. The FTSE 100's top gainers where Babcock and Johnson Matthey, up more than 4% on strong profits figures.
Confidence was also helped by a survey indicating the first rise in German analyst and investor sentiment for nearly a year. "It's not surprising that the market is reacting to weak commodity prices and disappointing Chinese data," Henk Potts, director of global research at Barclays, said.
The ZEW think tank's monthly survey of confidence rose to 11.5 points in November, well above analysts' expectations. "China has been the key influence in commodity markets over the course of the past 15 to 20 years, but the country is slowly going through a transition, moving away from being a manufacturing powerhouse. Its influence on commodity markets is likely to diminish," he said.
Shares in Prudential rose 1.1% after the insurer reported a 17% rise in group new business profit to £1.5bn. Shares were also undermined by more worries about the eurozone's economic health. Data company Markit's gauge of business activity slowed to a 16-month low of 51.4 in November from 52.1 in October.
AstraZeneca shares closed 1.9% higher after its latest trading update. The company, which fought off a bid from US firm Pfizer earlier this year, said its development of new drugs was making good progress. However, a reading above 50 still indicates growth.
Easyjet shares closed 1.2% lower. The airline reported a 21% rise in full-year profits to £581m for the 12 months to end of September. Several FTSE 100 companies went ex-dividend on Thursday - including National Grid, Sainsbury and Vodafone - which helped push the index lower.
On the currency markets, sterling rose 0.06% against the dollar to $1.5651 but fell 0.6% against the euro to €1.2483.