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The first day of trading on the London Stock Exchange since the COP26 agreement was signed saw investors dumping mining stocks as the future of coal looked bleak.
The FTSE 100, which has some of the biggest global mining giants among it, managed to close the day out up 3.95 points, or 0.05%, at 7351.86.
But several big names saw falls, including Evraz down 16.8p at 603.2p; BHP down 37.4p at 1923.4p; Antofagasta down 28p at 1,460p and Anglo American down 41p at 2,850p.
By comparison, the French Cac closed up 0.53% and the German Dax was up 0.34%.
Danni Hewson, AJ Bell financial analyst, said: “The FTSE 100 boasts a large compliment of miners and they’ve been falling today as investors weight up exactly what Cop26 deal making on coal will actually mean in practice.”
The market was also supressed by comments from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey over his decision to keep interest rates at record lows, despite rising inflation.
He told MPs he was “very uneasy about the inflation situation”, leading to speculation that a rates rise will come in December.
Oliver Males, financial analyst at Spreadex, said: “After this, many will be expecting the interest rates to go up in December, but some believe it is unlikely to have that much of a detrimental effect on UK markets, as the decision would almost be an inevitability and therefore already factored into the current price.”
In company news, Royal Dutch Shell announced it will be moving its headquarters and tax residency to the UK, leaving the Netherlands after 130 years and dropping the “Royal Dutch” part of its name. The oil giant said the move was to simplify its structure, including ending its listing of A shares and B shares on the FTSE 100 to just one share instead.
Shell’s A shares closed up 35.2p at 1,676.4p and its B shares up 23.8p at 1,680.8p.
James Bond helped Cineworld draw in more customers to its screens as bosses said revenue from the box office and concessions was 27% higher in October, compared to the same month before the pandemic. Shares jumped 4.12p to 67p.
Outsourcer Serco said contracts running the Government’s Covid-19 test-and-trace system have helped the firm surpass revenue and profit targets.
Revenues are now expected to be £4.4 billion, up from £4.3 billion forecasted, and underlying pre-tax profits of at least £225 million, up from £200 million previously predicted.
Shares closed up 3.2p at 134p.
Online trading firm CMC Markets confirmed it is considering a move to split its financial betting arm from its broking business in a move which would boost returns for stock market investors.
Shares in the company, led by Conservative peer Lord Peter Cruddas, closed up 16.5p at 275.5p.
And Wizz Air announced it has signed a deal to buy 102 planes from Airbus as part of plans to triple the number of aircraft it operates by 2030.
Shares closed down 10p at 4,765p.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Avast up 39.4p at 598.2p; London Stock Exchange Group up 228p at 7,166p; Standard Chartered up 12.9p at 474.5p; Royal Mail up 12p at 445.7p and Johnson Matthey up 55p at 2,328p.
The biggest fallers were Aveva down 94p at 3,265p; Evraz down 16.8p at 603.2p; B&M down 14.4p at 585p; Darktrace down 13.5p at 568.5p and Rentokil down 12.6p at 623.6p.
