After spending most of the day near a four and a half year high the FTSE 100 index slipped back 0.01% to 5,732 as the property sector tumbled and oil stocks gave back earlier gains.
Land Securities was down 3.31% to 1,577p, Hammerson fell 3.54% to 981.50p and British Land was down 2.91% to 1,050p after Merrill Lynch downgraded a raft of stocks to ‘neutral' from 'buy'. As oil prices retreated after this morning’s advance, losing 76 cents to $63.45, BG fell 0.08% to 599.50p and BP gained 0.08% to 643p, giving back most of its initial rise that followed an upbeat assessment of the group in advance of Wednesday’s fourth quarter earnings update. Positive broker comment helped HSBC rally up 2.38% to 969p, with Citigroup raising the banking giant to “hold” from “sell” a...
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