FTSE falls back as eight-day Santa rally ends

The FTSE 100 is set to post a loss of around 2.5% for 2014 after falling back sharply yesterday (30 December) following several days of gains.

Having risen for eight consecutive days over the Christmas period, the index dropped 1.3% on Tuesday to close at 6,547, erasing the last week of gains. The blue-chip index was up 0.3% at 6,564 this morning, meaning it stands 2.75% lower for the year as a whole. This is despite the benchmark having risen 3.9% in the week to 19 December, rebounding immediately after having suffered its worst week in three years. Last week the FTSE was buoyed by a rebound in the oil price to as high as $63 per barrel, continuing to rise even as Brent fell back to the $60 per barrel mark. The eight ...