FTSE 100 Slips Into Red After Positive Start

(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks failed to maintain initial gains on Friday despite some upward momentum seen on Wall Street overnight.

With crude prices declining on supply worries and U.S. bond yields going up on expectations of a more expansionary U.S. fiscal policy under a Trump presidency, investors seem to be sitting on the sidelines for now.

Brexit worries also returned to the fore after some MPs told the BBC they are prepared to vote against triggering Article 50.

The benchmark FTSE 100 is currently down 65 points or 0.95 percent at 6,763 in opening deals after dropping as much as 1.2 percent in the previous session.

Precious metals miners Fresnillo and Randgold Resources are down over 4 percent as gold prices hit fresh four-week lows.

SIG Plc shares are down as much as 20 percent after the building materials supplier forecast lower underlying pretax profit for fiscal 2016, reflecting weaker than anticipated trading conditions and intensified competition in the U.K.

Royal Dutch Shell is losing about 2 percent on a report that it plans to invest $10 billion in Brazil over the next five years.