At the close: FTSE 100 index closes down on Old Mutual, miners and oil companies
The FTSE 100 index closed sharply lower, ending the week below the 6,000 mark and rounding off a poor week.
The UK's top blue-chip index closed 2.22 per cent lower at 5,952 points, the lowest late September, led lower by miners, oil companies and Old Mutual.
Old Mutual led the index lower, closing 10.62 per cent down at 155.7p per share, still suffering after South African finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene was sacked yesterday. The company does a lot of business in the country.
"Old Mutual was punished again for its links to South Africa," Jasper Lawler, analyst at CMC Markets, said. "The worry … is that new finance minister David van Rooyen may have been put in to ramp up spending for political purposes against the best interests of the economy."
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Miners, many of which started the day strongly, fell heavily, embedded at the bottom of the index. Anglo American was down 8.07 per cent at 292.95p per share, reeling the sacking of Nene as well as a target price cut from Goldman Sachs.
BHP Billiton was down 5.32 per cent to 694.2p per share, while Antofagasta lost 3.83 per cent to close at 428.9p per share. Rio Tinto fell 4.34 per cent to 1,885.5p per share.
"Fresh seven year lows for the price oil is having the most direct impact on stock markets through the energy sector. Royal Dutch Shell, BP and BG Group combined made up over a third of the points losses on the FTSE 100 on Friday," Lawler added.
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Oil companies also fared badly, with BG Group's share price falling 5.1 per cent to 925.8p per share. Royal Dutch Shell's B Shares fell 4.79 per cent to 1,460p per share and BP was seen 3.69 per cent down at 338p per share.
Mondi was also down 3.12 per cent to 1,275p per share as the packaging and paper company has South African division.
Sports Direct also extended its losses from the previous session, dropping 1.1 per cent to 586p per share, after posting underwhelming results and revelations about poor worker conditions.
In the FTSE 250 International Personal Finance fell 8.22 per cent to 296p per share on Slovakian legislation worries.