FTSE 100 tumbles, oil lower after OPEC, USD strengthens By Investing.com

Key Points

• FTSE 100 closing price of 7,102.66, -0.87%
• Oil lower as OPEC ends with no agreement
• Energy companies, miners weigh on FTSE
• USD strengthens
• Bitcoin steady around $34K despite more China headlines

By Samuel Indyk

Investing.com – The FTSE 100 fell on Tuesday amid broad based selling in global equity markets following disappointing US and European data. Although both the German ZEW survey and US ISM non-manufacturing PMI remain at elevated levels, the two measures both missed expectations and moderated from the prior month.

The energy sector was weak after oil prices declined amid the breakdown in talks at the OPEC+ meeting. The cartel ended talks on Monday with no further agreement after the UAE blocked a deal to increase production by 400,000 barrels per day from August due to wanting to increase their baseline figure. The other members of the group could not agree and so production increases were not forthcoming. In theory, this should lift the price of oil but the increased uncertainty puts the current agreement at risk, potentially leading to a flood of supply if the agreement breaks down.

BP (LON:BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) were two of the worst performing stocks in the FTSE 100 while Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) and Petrofac (LON:PFC) were both trading lower in the FTSE 250.

Further weighing on the index were commercial property companies British Land (LON:BLND) and Land Securities (LON:LAND). The two companies were downgraded to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ by Jefferies pre-market.

In FX markets, the EUR was weak after the German ZEW survey missed expectations. GBP/USD had swung between gains and losses, struggling for direction ahead of the FOMC meeting minutes on Wednesday. Earlier the pair had hit a one week high after UK Prime Minister Johnson announced that the UK is on track to end Covid restrictions on 19th July.

In the world of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin had briefly moved above $35,000 but failed to hold above that level following more headlines from China. This time, a regional office of the central bank announced it had ordered the closure of a software maker over cryptocurrency trading and deactivated its website.

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