MONDAY MARKET CLOSE : Oil price continues to weigh on FTSE

London’s FTSE 100 lost almost 2 per cent in value today following its slide last week after investors were again rattled by concerns over the falling price of oil.

The bad week for London's markets was driven by the tumbling price of oil and jitters over the global economy. Picture: Getty

The top-flight index, which had been in positive territory earlier in the day, finished 117.92 points lower at 6,182.72 following the abrupt turnaround.

The slump comes after £112 billion was wiped from the value of blue-chip shares during the London market’s worst week in more than three years, driven by the tumbling price of oil and jitters over the global economy.

The Footsie is now 8 per cent lower in the month to date, and Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG, warned there was no immediate relief in sight.

He said: “The template is still in place: oversupply and dwindling demand mean that the pressure will still be on oil.”

Among the heavyweight fallers, BP was down 12.4p to 373.25p, fellow oil major Royal Dutch Shell dipped 42.5p to 1,989p and mining gianr BHP Billiton dropped 49p to 1,276p.

The US dollar provided refuge for investors as the pound dipped 0.5 per cent against the greenback to 1.56 and also fell against the euro to 1.25.

Banking stocks were also under pressure ahead of today’s announcement from the Bank of England on the results of tests showing how the UK’s major lenders would cope with severe economic stress. Barclays fell 7.1p to 225.2p and state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 11.9p to 363.7p.

However, many retailers survived the sell-off after profit upgrades from Carpetright – up 14.4 per cent at 358.3p – and Greggs – up 5.5 per cent at 692.5p – suggested that consumer confidence remained strong.

B&Q owner Kingfisher benefited from the Carpetright statement and its shares rose 4.7p to end the day at 319.6p.