Petrofac falls following three banks cutting target but Tesco climbs ahead of results
After a bright start, leading shares are drifting lower again, with oil shares hit by the weakness in crude prices.
Petrofac, the oil services group, is the biggest faller in the FTSE 100, down 27p at £10.33 as three analysts cut their price targets. Goldman Sachs moved from £12.70 to £11.50, Societe General from £12.20 to £11.50 and Natixis from £15 to £13.
We now expect the very recent decline in oil prices may trigger another, more pronounced, round of E&P capex cuts (more cuts from international oil companies to protect their dividends and softening investment from national oil companies).