While UK stocks are rising as Isabella said, the FTSE 100 is underperforming its peers across Europe, with the Stoxx 600 index up 0.5%.
It follows the recent trend we’ve seen of the FTSE 100 outperforming on days when the broader overall equity mood is negative and lagging behind when things are more upbeat.
In the past that’s been mainly down to its more classically ‘defensive’ makeup and limited sensitivity to some macroeconomic drivers. However this week the volatile price of oil has been playing a big part.
Heavyweight oil firms BP and Shell have been leading the bluechip benchmark in recent days as the price of crude has spiked, helping the FTSE outperform.
Today oil prices are falling — and BP and Shell shares are the biggest drag on the index.
