At the close: FTSE 100 slips on the falling oil price as poor China data weighs heavy
The FTSE 100 has managed to erase all its earlier gains to close down, adding to the worst weekly performance since February and marking the third straight week of losses.
The blue-chip index finished 0.2 per cent lower at 6,114.81 after falling 1.9 per cent last week. The index is down around two per cent so far this year and 15 per cent from its highs of over 7,000 reached in the middle of last year.
The fall was largely down to a sharp drop in mining stocks that could not be countered by a rally in the travel and leisure sector.
Weighing on investor's minds was the latest Chinese trade data that showed the country's surplus widened in April. Chinese exports fell 1.8 per cent year-on-year, while imports dropped 10.9 per cent. The declines market the 18th consecutive monthly fall.
Jasper Lawler, analyst at CMC markets said:
Commodities as a pack came in for a royal drubbing on Monday. Weak Chinese trade data added to recent weakness brought on by a clampdown on commodity futures trading in China.
Output-limiting Canadian wildfires, a new Saudi oil minister and a report showing new oil discoveries at a 60-year low had been assisting higher crude prices since Friday. However, a collapse in dollar-denominated commodities took its toll on crude oil which fell in unison.
Miner Anglo American led the fallers, ditching 13.8 per cent. Rivals Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Fresnillo, and Glencore weren't far behind all dropping between 5.6 and and nine per cent.
Oil majors also performed badly. Royal Dutch Shell finished 2.4 per cent lower, while BP was down 2.6 per cent.
The oil price fell back from a jump at the week's open as traders digest the news that Saudi Arabia has replaced its oil minister with the current chairman of state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco.
Read more: Low oil prices pushes Saudi Arabia into economic reform
An earlier boost in the oil price has been put down to wildfires in Canada weighing on the countries production potential.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell two per cent to $44.7 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, slumped 1.6 per cent to $44.
Connor Campbell, at Spreadex, said:
Whilst its European peers held onto their robust rebound this Monday the FTSE found itself falling back towards flatness as the day went on, the index struggling with the intolerable weight of its commodity stocks.
With Brent Crude abandoning its early gains BP and Shell joined took a dip into the red, whilst the miners doubled down on their China-inspired morning losses, the likes of Anglo American and Lonmin seeing double-digit declines.
At the other end of the scale travel stocks Tui, easyJet, and Carnival performed well.
Budget airline easyJet rose 3.8 per cent on weaker oil prices and an upgrade to "outperform" from "underperform" from RBC.
Read more: Saudi Arabia is acting like a drunken gambler in its oil war
Travel firm TUI was up 3.7 per cent, while cruise operator Carnival climbed by 2.3 per cent.
Whitbread, Britain's biggest hotel and coffee shop operator, advanced 2.6 per cent.
Baker Greggs, home of the famous steak slice rose 2.7 per cent after its results showed sales slowed, indicated a 16 per cent drop in shares so far this year may have been overdone.