London - Britain's top share index fell on Thursday, hit by firms exposed to a higher oil price after air strikes in Yemen sent Brent surging, and a sharp slump in London Stock Exchange group.
Britain's FTSE 100 was down by 38.77 points, or 0.5 percent, at 6,952.20 by 08h56 GMT, bring the drop since a record high hit on Tuesday to 1.6 percent.
Airlines saw substantial selling as Brent crude oil shot up nearly 6 percent after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies began a military operation in Yemen.
Travel and leisure firms, many of which have oil as a substantial input cost, were down 2 percent, having rallied by a third since lows in October 2014.
Cruise operator Carnival fell 2.2 percent and British Airways owner IAG fell 2.7 percent.
Budget airline easyJet dropped 3.4 percent due to the oil price rise, despite upgrading first-half forecasts.
However, oil firms such as BP and Shell rose 0.5-1.7 percent, helping the index outperform the likes of Germany's DAX, which fell 1.4 percent.
“Given the FTSE is heavily exposed to commodities, we see the weakness being relatively protected by the drops we are seeing in Europe,” Atif Latif, director of trading at Guardian Stockbrokers, said.
LSE was the biggest FTSE 100 faller in percentage terms, down 8.6 percent after Borse Dubai sold its complete 17.4 percent stake in the stock exchange operator.
Although Borse Dubai did not disclose the price it sold its stake, a source familiar with the matter said the sale was at 2,250 pence per share. LSE was trading at 2,320 pence after its drop.
Chip designer ARM extended the previous session's fall in substantial volume, down 4.3 percent in the light of heavy selling in the United States, where the sector was hit by downgrades and concerns over sales.
Reuters