A mixed lead from Asia, a pullback in oil prices and end-of-month repositioning weighed on European markets on the final day of a very volatile first quarter.
On the FTSE 100, TUI Travel led the gainers whilst miners gave back some of the big gains made this week. A report showing the biggest outflows from British property funds since 2008 has seen REIT British Land drop towards the bottom on the UK equity benchmark.
TUI shares jumped after reporting an uptick in summer holiday bookings to destinations such as Spain and the Canaries to offset a drop in popularity of Turkey and Egypt after terrorist attacks. Other leisure and tourism stocks including Carnival (LON:CCL) and Merlin Entertainments (LON:MERL) basked in TUI’s brilliance.
The sharp reversal in oil prices on Wednesday in combination with a four-week low in the price of copper has prompted some profit taking in UK-listed miners including BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO). Another build in US weekly crude inventories spooked oil traders into retreat, prompting fears that US oil has put in a short-term top at $40 per barrel.
US stocks look set for a lower start as the Yellen-put rally loses some momentum amid a drop in the price of oil on the last day of the quarter.
USA pre-opening levels
S&P 500: 3 points lower at 2,059
Dow Jones: 25 points lower at 17,691
Nasdaq 100: 9 points lower at 4,481
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