Travel firms in the red

Travel firms slumped into the red today as fears over political unrest in Egypt hit blue chip stocks.

Thomson owner TUI Travel, Thomas Cook and British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group were among those under pressure on the London market as flights were delayed and holidays cancelled.

Concerns over the impact of Egypt’s woes on oil supplies also sent the wider Footsie into the red, down 18.4 points to 5862.9p.

The price of Brent crude hit 100 US dollars a barrel for the first time since 2008 as markets fretted over the flow of oil being disrupted on key strategic routes through Egypt.

But a better session on Wall Street helped pare back earlier losses in London thanks to better-than-expected earnings from US oil giant Exxon and news of a jump in US consumer spending.

Other markets across Europe also narrowed losses, with the Cac 40 in France scraping into the black by the close and Germany’s Dax off 0.4%.

The US dollar had strengthened in recent days as traders sought refuge in traditional safe haven currencies, but eased back today after investors in America returned to US stocks thanks to today’s cheery economic and corporate news.

The pound was up 1.3% to more than 1.60 dollars and rose 0.3% to 1.17 euros.

Heavyweight banks such as Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland were shaken on the FTSE 100 by the uncertainty. UK heavyweight Barclays was down 4.5p at 293.8p, a drop of more than 1%, while RBS fell 1p to 41.7p.

With Thomson holidays owner TUI Travel cancelling flights to the Egyptian city of Luxor, shares in the blue chip company dropped 6.8p to 253p.

Newly-merged BA and Iberia firm IAG fell 4.6p to 256.4p, while InterContinental Hotels slipped 14p to 1315p.

FTSE 250 tour operator Thomas Cook shed 6p to 190.6p.

Commodity firms helped offset the falls on the Footsie as investors turned to less risky stocks, with BG Group up 67p to 1401p and Essar Energy rising 7p to 519.5p.

More Than parent RSA Insurance gained ground as takeover talk suggested bigger rival Aviva was considering a £7bn bid. Although some analysts remained sceptical of a deal, RSA shares rose 0.6p to 135.9p.

Retailers also featured on the risers board, led by supermarkets Sainsbury’s and Tesco with gains of 10.4p to 381.5p and 4.6p to 402.7p respectively.

Greene King topped the FTSE 250 Index risers board after it became the latest pubs group to reveal resilient trading over the festive period.

The group, which saw shares rise 5% or 23.7p to 472.2p, forecast more profitable growth over the rest of the financial year and announced the £55.8 million acquisition of carvery pub restaurant business Cloverleaf.

The biggest Footsie risers were BG Group up 67p to 1401p, Sainsbury’s ahead 10.4p to 381.5p, Xstrata up 30p to 1385p and Rexam up 7p to 341.5p.

The biggest Footsie fallers were Icap down 19p to 536.5p, Prudential off 21p to 676p, International Power down 12.3p to 422.8p and TUI Travel off 6.8p to 253p.