(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)
* UK mid-caps record worst weekly losing streak since Dec
2018
* Travel stocks rise on easing of quarantine rules
* Weir drops as ransomware hits quarterly profit
* FTSE 100 up 0.3%, FTSE 250 down 0.1%
(Updates to market close)
By Shashank Nayar and Bansari Mayur Kamdar
Oct 8 (Reuters) - Surging oil stocks helped the UK's
blue-chip index outperform its European peers on Friday as crude
prices rallied, while trucking services firm Eurowag fell in its
London market debut after floating a day late and at a cut
price.
The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 rose 0.3%, with shares
in oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell jumping
more than 2% as an ongoing global energy crunch drove U.S. crude
futures to $80 a barrel for the first time since 2014.
The domestically focused mid-cap index, however,
eased 0.1%, with UK-listed shares of travel company Tui
slumping 15.5% as a rights issue got underway.
Czech company Eurowag — which initially planned to
float on Thursday — dropped some 10% to 135 pence, falling
below its offer price of 150 pence per share.
"There is usually a significant amount of volatility
immediately after trading begins with IPOs. So, volatility in
itself is not unusual and (Eurowag) shares have fallen, given
that the offer price came in below the initial range indicating
that demand was rather subdued," said Susannah Streeter, an
analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Europe's initial public offering market had its strongest
third quarter in a decade, though inflation fears and concerns
over a property crisis in China have soured investors' appetite
for new stock listings.
While concerns about soaring gas prices and labour shortages
have sent the midcap index on its worst weekly run since 2018,
banks and oil stocks have driven weekly gains for the FTSE 100.
Shares in British Airways-owner IAG and Ryanair
edged up as Britain was set to scrap tough COVID-19
quarantine requirements for 47 destinations.
Weir Group fell 2.5% after saying it was the target
of an attempted ransomware attack in the second half of
September, which impacted its third-quarter profit.
(Additional reporting by Sruthi Shankar; editing by Uttaresh.V,
Kirsten Donovan)
