LONDON MARKETS: Airlines, Oil Stocks Put FTSE 100 Under Pressure
July 24 2017 - 4:26AM
Dow Jones News
By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Pound hovers around $1.30
Blue-chip stocks in the U.K. fell Monday, with airlines pulled
lower after a warning from Ryanair and OPEC's monthly meeting
casting a shadow on oil and gas shares.
The FTSE 100 index dropped 0.4% to 7,422.66, with all sectors
moving lower. The benchmark on Friday lost 0.5%
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-edges-up-reaches-for-a-weekly-win-2017-07-21),
but notched a weekly advance of 1%, its best such showing late May,
according to FactSet data.
Monday's session got under way with the oil and gas group being
dragged lower by a decline in oil prices
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-steady-with-all-eyes-on-opec-meeting-2017-07-24)
. Energy major Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) shed 0.7% and rival
BP PLC (BP.LN) gave up 1.2%.
Investors are watching for word from a highly-anticipated
meeting of oil ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries and some non-OPEC producers on Monday.
Officials are expected to discuss how producers are complying with
quotas set under an output cap agreement that kicked in Jan. 1.
Read:How OPEC committee's meeting could make or break oil prices
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-opec-committees-coming-meeting-could-make-or-break-oil-prices-2017-07-20)
Airlines descend: Shares in easyJet PLC (EZJ.LN) and
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG.LN) , which runs
British Airways, fell 3.5% and 2.6% respectively. The moves came
after budget carrier Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) warned about
pressure on fares because of overcapacity.
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ryanair-profit-soars-55-warns-on-overcapacity-2017-07-24)
Ryanair stuck to its outlook that ticket prices in the first
half, including the key July-September travel period, could fall on
average 5%, and decline by 8% in the October-March period. Off the
FTSE 100, shares of Ryanair stumbled 3.8%.
Other movers: Meanwhile, Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (RB.LN)
fell 1.9%. The consumer products heavyweight said like-for-like
sales fell 2% during the second quarter
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/reckitt-benckiser-profit-rises-on-reduced-costs-2017-07-24),
hurt by a recent cyberattack that affected its operations and those
of numerous companies.
The pound bought $1.3009, not far from $1.2997 late Friday in
New York.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 24, 2017 04:11 ET (08:11 GMT)
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