November 15, 2001	Thursday	Shaba’an 28, 1422

LONDON, Nov 14: Blue chip British stocks closed lower on Wednesday, hauled off two-month highs by diving oil shares as Opec shelved anticipated output curbs, with BP and Shell both falling around 6.5 per cent.

The retreat in oils scrubbed 50 points off the FTSE 100 share index, which closed down 36.4 points at 5,240.7, having touched a two-month intraday high of 5,366.4 on a burst of positive corporate news from both sides of the Atlantic. Overall volume was a lively 2.6 billion shares.

Miners Anglo American and BHP Billiton held much of their advance as investors bet that the economy was set to recover after the year’s interest rate cuts, an idea aided by better than expected US October retail sales data.

“The fallback was caused by the oils. There’s no decision from Opec and there’s disappointment the oil price has fallen. It’s caused a bit of profit-taking,” said Lawrence Peterman, Investment Director at stockbrokers Eden Group.

Cable & Wireless was up 4.3 per cent at 360p and Sage Group up 8.7 per cent as techs reacted to positively received statements from Texas Instruments, which stood by earlier guidance on fourth-quarter sales, while wireless firm Motorola reaffirmed its fourth-quarter outlook.

British Airways jumped 10 per cent to 186p, after international air traffic statistics showed the first signs of recovery and on investor relief that Monday’s US plane crash was more likely to have been an accident than an attack.

Shares in BOC Group firmed 3.7 per cent to 1,032p after the industrial gases firm posted full-year pre-tax profits before exceptionals of 480.3 million pounds ($690.2 million), beating the forecast range of 472-475 million.—Reuters