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FTSE100 lacklustre as crunch OPEC meeting kicks off

Last updated: 22:37 27 Nov 2014 AEDT, First published: 23:37 27 Nov 2014 AEDT

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FTSE100 was practically unchanged as blue chip workers downed their biros for some midday sustenance.

The UK's premier share index was up just over three points at 6,733 with oil firms and supermarkets weighing.

Oil stocks are dragging due to the  weakening oil price, which has plunged to new four year lows as the crunch OPEC meeting in Vienna takes centre stage.

Speculation is now mounting over whether the cartel will cut production to stem the lowering price tide, and the general vibe is they won't.

In London tarding earlier, Brent Crude futures were down more than US$2 per barrel at US$75.87.

JP Morgan analyst Scott Speaker believes OPEC will need to cut output, at some point.

Oil services firm Petrofac  (LON:PFC) was the biggest loser - down 2.78%, while BG Group dropped 1.67%.

The biggest gainer, up 2.26% was artificial hip maker Smith & Nephew (LON:SN.) after bits chief Olivier Bohuon said he had no plans to up stocks and leave the UK as Paris-based Sanofi continues its sarch for a new boss.

The biggest gainer in London was Distil (LON:DIS), which added almost 56% following a key US market approval for the Blackwood Gin brand.

The drinks group revealed Blackwood had received approval by the US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) for sale and distribution in the United States.

Distil highlights that America is the largest market for British gin in the world.

Stagecoach Group (LON:SGC) added over 7%  as it emerged that a consortium, including the firm and  Virgin Trains have won the East Coast rail franchise.

The outcome came as a disappointment to FirstGroup (LON:FGP), which was in the running for the franchise, though shares ticked 0.19% higher.

Shares in Poundland (LON:PLND) are up 2.81% after the discount retailer’s interim results. 

Like-for-like sales were up 4.7% while underlying profit before tax jumped by just over a third to £12.6mln.

In the small cap space, eProcurement specialist CloudBuy (LON:CBUY) added over 13% as it rerported chairman Ronald Duncan is not proceeding with a second transfer of shares under a previous agreement with US lender Equities First Holdings.

He and wife Lyn have organised additional fundsthey required from an alternative source, the statement said.

India-focused gold explorer Kolar Gold (LON:KGLD) is to participate fully in a new funding round by its exploration partner GMSI, it said today. Kolar shares rose 4%.

The £1.63mln of new money will pay for additional drilling and other exploration.

Kolar Gold’s pro-rata subscription amounts to £0.44mln while it also has a 12 months option to subscribe for £1.32 mln worth of new equity in GMSI. 

Elsewhere, shares in e-Therapeutics (LON:ETX) rose 5.56% as a research and development presentation being held by the company takes a closer look at two new discovery projects. 

ETX has begun investigations into telomerase inhibition, an emerging new method of tackling cancer, and compartmental neurodegeneration, a theory that suggests the brain’s various functions deteriorate at different rates.


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