NEW YORK: U.K. stocks on Thursday fell for the third time in four days, with the benchmark FTSE 100 weighed by a round of disappointing corporate earnings.
The FTSE 100 UKX, -0.65% fell 0.7% to close at 6,395.80. Consumer-goods shares rose, leading all sectors, followed by a scant gain for consumer-services issues. Merlin Entertainments PLC MERL, +2.22% whose theme parks include Legoland Resorts, ended atop the index, up 2.2%.
The blue-chips index on Wednesday rose for the first time in three sessions, in part as shares of energy producers were boosted alongside a surge of more than 6% in oil prices. Read: Why oil rallied despite 5 weeks of rising supplies.
But Royal Dutch Shell PLC RDSB, -1.46% RDS.B, -1.27% shares on Thursday lost 1.5% after the oil major swung to a third-quarter loss after taking charges of $7.9 billion on abandoned projects, amid a 16-month slump in oil prices.
Shares of BG Group PLC BG., -0.53% which is in the process of being acquired by Shell, shed 0.5%. BG’s own third-quarter results are due Friday. Stock in oil major BP PLC BP., +0.18% BP, -0.08% managed to climb out of the red to rise 0.2%. Oil prices on Thursday edged back from Wednesday’s jump.
Mining shares also struggled Thursday, as prices for silver, copper and other metals were crunched. In the group, Randgold Resources Ltd. RRS, -5.06% slumped 5.1% and Anglo American PLC AAL, -4.62% dropped 4.6%. Gold prices fell a three-week low after the U.S. Federal Reserve late Wednesday said it would focus its “next meeting” in mid-December on whether to raise interest rates. Gold has benefited from the Fed’s ultraloose monetary policy as commodities like gold don’t offer interest.
