UK stocks swing into the red as oil prices retreat

The UK’s FTSE 100 tumbled to a nearly one-month low on Tuesday, as oil prices retreated and housebuilder Vistry suffered a bruising session after warning investors over its profits.

The blue-chip index fell 113.01 points, or 1.36%, to close at 8,190.61, the lowest level since September 11.

Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Glencore were among the biggest fallers of the day amid growing concerns over the global political and economic environment.

Vistry saw its share price plummet by nearly a quarter on Tuesday after telling investors that it had understated costs for nine developments by about 10%.

This is set to leave this year’s underlying pre-tax profits around £80 million lower than expected, and will also impact earnings for the next two years.

Meanwhile, Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said the FTSE 100 was the “weakest performer in Europe” on Tuesday, with miners being hit by weaker commodity prices.

She said: “Financial markets are mostly in a risk-off mood on Tuesday, as China has stopped its drip feed of stimulus, commodity prices fall, Middle East tensions continue to rage and the surge in US Treasury yields starts to worry investors.”

The price of Brent crude oil tumbled by about 4.6% on Tuesday to 77.2 US dollars per barrel, after surpassing 80 dollars per barrel on Monday.

For equity markets elsewhere in Europe, it was a weak session with Germany’s Dax down 0.17% and France’s Cac 40 closing 0.72% lower.

Over in the US, trading got off on a stronger footing with the S&P 500 up 0.8% and the Dow Jones 0.2% higher by the time European markets closed.

The pound was up about 0.1% against the US dollar at 1.31 and 0.15% against the euro at 1.194.

In other company news, Imperial Brands jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 after the tobacco giant said it was expecting sales growth across both its cigarette and alternative smoking products this year.

The business also told investors it was increasing the amount of cash returned to shareholders from £2.4 billion to £2.8 billion in the year ahead. Its share price closed 4.1% higher.

Shares in hospitality group Loungers also moved higher after reporting a nearly 20% jump in revenues over the past six months, compared with the prior year, and saying its expansion plans were on track.

Loungers, which runs venues across its Lounge, Cosy Club and Brightside brands, expects to open 18 more sites over the second half of its financial year. Shares in the business closed 1.9% higher.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Imperial Brands, up 88p to 2,236p, IAG, up 4.1p to 196p, Ashtead, up 76p to 5,724p, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, up 21p to 1,900p, and Marks & Spencer, up 4.1p to 371.9p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Vistry, down 309.5p to 963.5p, Anglo American, down 163.5p to 2,281.5p, Antofagasta, down 102.5p to 1,888p, Rio Tinto, down 256p to 5,044p, and Glencore, down 20p to 417.5p.