FTSE round up: Index drops on oil and mining share sell-off following fears of oversupply

The FTSE 100 closed 0.14 per cent down this week after falling to 6,950.82, driven by a sell off in oil and mining shares.

The biggest faller was silver and gold miner Fresnillo which saw a 6.98 per cent decrease to 746.4p as the company continued to feel the effects of being downgraded by Morgan Stanley yesterday.

Following the precious metals company was Wood Group, which slumped 5.92 per cent to 587.6p.

Anglo American saw a 4.53 per cent fall to 1562p and steel and coal mining company Evraz dropped 4.01 per cent to 464.4p. Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell also took a hit and close 3.83 per cent down at 2323p.

It comes as the price of Brent Crude oil fell to a year-low and closed at $58.87 per barrel.

Hargreaves Lansdown senior analyst Laith Khalaf said: “The Footsie is now back to where it started this century, thanks to a sell-off in the commodity sector, sparked by concerns that oil supply is set to outstrip global demand. It’s perhaps fitting that on Black Friday, tumbling oil stocks have slashed the price of the FTSE 100.

“The UK stock market is heavily influenced by commodity prices, because some of its big hitters are global oil and mining giants. 17 per cent of the FTSE 100 is made up by Shell and BP, so when the oil price dips, the Footsie takes a bath.”

Meanwhile, the biggest riser was online supermarket Ocado, which rose 5.92 per cent to 743.6p, followed by budget airline Easyjet, which closed at 1207p after rising 4.05 per cent and Royal Mail – up 3.82 per cent at 340p.

Shares in property investment group British Land were up 2.96 per cent to 606p, while Sage Group shares rose 2.89 per cent to 576.4p, after falling more than four per cent earlier this week after it narrowly hit a downgraded revenue target.