FTSE down despite oil gains

Despite recording a 22% decline in profits, BP’s promise of a larger dividend helped lift shares 13.5 points (2.49%) to 555.5p. Royal Dutch Shell continued to benefit from its record profit figures with A shares rising 37 points (2.05%) to £18.43 and B shares added 35 points (1.98%) to £18.00. Schroders lost 38 points (3.45%) to £10.65, while Old Mutual lost 4.5 points (3.34%) to 130.4p. On Wall Street, continued worries about the economy, mixed with poor profit taking, dragged markets down and the Dow Jones lost 108.03 (0.85%) to 12,635.16. Merck shares made the biggest gains, up 1....