By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index moved
slightly lower on Monday, with shares of oil companies falling
alongside weaker energy prices and investors remaining concerned
about the Scottish independence vote.
The benchmark fell 0.1% to 6,800.94. Last week, the FTSE broke a
four-week winning streak and dropped 0.7% amid concerns Scotland
might vote to leave the U.K. at the referendum on Sept. 18.
Over the weekend, Scotland's first minister and leader of the
pro-independence Scottish National Party Alex Salmond asked voters
to grasp a "once in a lifetime" opportunity and vote for
independence. Polls leading up to the vote have been neck to neck,
stirring uncertainty in the financial markets. Particularly the
pound (GBPUSD) has been beaten down and continued lower on Monday
to trade at $1.6233, from $1.6265 late Friday.
Movers: Oil firms added the most pressure on the London
benchmark on Monday, with shares of BP PLC (BP) down 1%, BG Group
PLC 1.9% lower and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) off 0.6%. The
losses came as oil prices moved lower after weak Chinese industrial
data over the weekend.
Shares of SABMiller PLC (SBMRY) climbed to the top of the FTSE,
up 8.7%, after news that Anheuser-Busch InBev NV(AHBIY) is talking
to banks about financing a deal to buy the London-listed
brewer.
TUI Travel PLC added 1.9% after the travel operator and its
German parent TUI AG agreed on the terms of their all-share merger,
originally announced in June.
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