FTSE 100 movers: National Grid slumps as housebuilders recover
London's FTSE 100 was down 0.7% to 6,727.33 in afternoon trade on Tuesday amid weaker oil prices, as investors eyed the latest policy announcement from the Fed.
National Grid was the standout loser as electricity regulator Ofgem proposed price controls for networks as part of its plans to save consumers £45 per year. The company said it was "disappointed" with the proposed financial package for the next price control period from 2021, particularly the cost of equity range, which it does not believe appropriately reflects the level of risk borne by transmission networks.
Shire was under the cosh following heavy falls for Takeda overnight, after Moody's cut its credit rating on the pharmaceutical company by three notches to Baa2 from A2.
Wood Group was in the red as it said it has won a 10-year contract worth $66m to supply programmable digital control technologies to the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria, UK.
Royal Dutch Shell gushed lower following a report that the oil giant is in talks to buy Endeavor Energy Resources for about $8bn. Bloomberg cited a person familiar with the matter as saying that discussions have not reached an advanced stage, with matters complicated by founder Autry Stephens' desire to retain a large quantity of its mineral rights.
More broadly, energy-related shares took a hit as oil prices slid amid supply glut worries.
On the upside, housebuilders Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments and Berkeley Group recovered from losses in the previous session. The sector had been under pressure a day earlier after the latest Rightmove survey showed that house prices suffered their biggest two-month drop in December since 2012.
Retailers were also bouncing back from heavy falls following a shock profit warning from online giant ASOS on Monday, with Next and B&Q owner Kingfisher both on the rise.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Royal Mail (RMG) 294.50p 3.37%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 134.80p 2.90%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,080.50p 2.76%
Tesco (TSCO) 195.40p 2.71%
Next (NXT) 4,238.00p 2.44%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 443.90p 2.28%
Kingfisher (KGF) 220.80p 2.22%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,392.00p 2.20%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 245.90p 2.08%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,410.00p 1.88%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
National Grid (NG.) 782.50p -6.32%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,798.00p -3.85%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,408.00p -2.75%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 521.00p -2.43%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,379.50p -2.02%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,293.10p -1.96%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,277.50p -1.92%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 781.60p -1.81%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,839.50p -1.66%
Relx plc (REL) 1,612.00p -1.65%