FTSE opens lower, British Airways leads decliners

London equities traded to the downside in opening deals on Friday following on from a quiet session on Wall Street overnight.

The FTSE 100 fell 18.7 points, 0.3 per cent, to 6,298.6 while the mid-cap FTSE 250 lost 24.3 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 11,684.5.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 Index closed flat at 1,4334.56, the tech-led Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2 per cent to 2,451.74 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 per cent to 12,461.30.

Back in London, J Sainsbury fell 1.2 per cent to 543½p following reports in the Financial Times that the supermarket chain's pension trustees have told a consortium of private equity suitors it would have to address a pension hole of up to £3bn to succeed in its bid.

On the upside, oil prices rose sending shares in BP 0.4 per cent higher to 531p and Royal Dutch Shell up 0.5 per cent to £16.49.

The higher oil price hit British Airways shares, down 2.1 per cent at 516p. The airline was also reported to be one of four major groups interested in consolidating with Spanish airline Iberia.

Shares in Hikma Pharmaceuticals gained 3.3 per cent to 402p after Citigroup raised its recommendation on the stock from "sell" to "buy".

Kensington Group slid 18.8 per cent to 647½p after it said profits in coming years were likely to be below current market estimates. The specialist mortgage lender also announced the departure of its CEO John Maltby