Sector movers: Oil&Gas shares slip as Brent approaches $100 a barrrel

Oil&Gas was the biggest drag on the stock market amid reports that Russia was managing to find buyers for at least some of the crude oil cargoes being shunned by many buyers.

Brent crude oil futures fell back towards the psychological $100 per barrel mark on the back of the news.

Against that backdrop, Shell announced that it expected to book up to $5bn in post-tax write offs after its decision to exit Russia.

The oil major did add that oil & gas earnings would be “significantly higher” on the back of surging prices.

Even so, the shares fell back by just over 2.0%, although they remained in a clear uptrend.

Going the other way, stock in AstraZeneca notched up a fresh record high after analysts at JP Morgan hiked their target price on the back of strong expectations for the company's oncology pipeline.

Top performing sectors so far today

Food Producers 6,388.98 +1.62%

Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 21,597.30 +1.57%

Leisure Goods 18,943.25 +1.47%

Medical Equipment and Services 8,746.52 +1.33%

Retailers 2,877.87 +1.08%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Automobiles & Parts 2,341.02 -6.18%

Household Goods & Home Construction 13,075.74 -3.52%

Life Insurance 6,958.34 -2.58%

Tobacco 33,741.67 -1.91%

Oil, Gas and Coal 7,076.58 -1.75%