A near-4% drop in the value of Shell’s shares helped drive the FTSE 100 into the red today after the Anglo-Dutch energy giant warned of Covid-19 writedowns of up to £17.5 billion.
The UK’s main market fell 56.03 points, or 0.9%, to 6,169.74, nearly wiping out Monday’s gain.
The French Cac 40 and German Dax indices had mixed fortunes, down 0.19% and up 0.64% respectively, while in the US the Dow Jones was 0.16% higher by the London market close.
Shell was the Footsie’s biggest faller, with its “A” and “B” shares down by 3.94% to £12.87 and 3.68% to £12.24 respectively.
In a second quarter trading update, Shell said post-tax impairments for the three months to June 30 would fall between £11.9bn and £17.5bn.
Scottish energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said: “Major oil companies are going through a process of reassessing long-term oil price assumptions and investment hurdle rates as a result of the oil price crash and the coronavirus.”
Biggest Footsie riser was engineering firm Smiths Group, up nearly 9% at £14.12 after it launched a £65 million restructuring programme.
Brent crude oil was down 0.29% at $41.94 per barrel, as of 6.30pm.
