Oil prices set to see FTSE end week on low

Record oil prices put the London market on course for a downbeat end to the week today – despite seeing a flurry of interest in banking stocks.

By lunchtime the FTSE 100 Index stood 20.5 points lower at 4392.9, driven by the impact of sky-high oil prices which hit a new high of 44.73 US dollars a barrel in New York.