The FTSE 100 Index struggled for direction as sliding oil prices pushed heavyweights such as BP and Royal Dutch Shell lower but delivered more cheer for travel stocks.
London's top-flight was flat, ending the day just 0.8 points lower at 6722.6, as Opec's decision not to cut production rippled through markets for a second day.
The announcement had pushed the price of a barrel of Brent crude sharply lower to near 71 US dollars though it steadied at above 72 dollars as the final session of the week drew to a close.
BP was down 6p to 420.2p while Royal Dutch Shell drifted 42.5p to 2223p. Oil and gas exploration firm BG was the biggest faller, down nine per cent, or 86.5p, to 900.2p, while rival Tullow Oil dropped 38.9p, or eight per cent to 426p.
In travel stocks, cruise ship operator Carnival was buoyed five per cent, or 123p, to 2820p.
Thomson owner TUI Travel rose 11.4p to 444.7p and FTSE 250 rival Thomas Cook shrugged off the recent departure of boss Harriet Green as it recovered 2.6p to 121.8p.
Meanwhile, easyJet gained 20p to 1653p but British Airways owner International Airlines Group, a riser in the previous session on the Opec decision, failed to make any further gains, instead edging 0.3p lower to 457.5p.
Analysts calculated that airlines which have already taken positions on oil for years ahead may have to wait to see benefits from the oil price drop.
In currency markets, the pound took another tumble with the likelihood of petrol prices tumbling still further seen as driving down inflation and pushing the likelihood of any interest rate rise even further back.
Sterling fell by a cent against the greenback at just above 1.56 US dollars and was also lower against the single currency at a little below 1.26 euros.
In London, Vodafone rose 6.6p to 234p after comments by Indian government officials that the country may not challenge a Mumbai High Court order against a £312 million tax ruling in favour of the telecoms giant.
A number of retail stocks rose as so-called Black Friday discounting gripped the high street, with Sports Direct International up 16.5p to 660.5p, Marks & Spencer 6.5p higher at 488.5p.
Primark owner Associated British Foods climbed 35p to 3203p while in the FTSE 250 Index, Argos parent Home Retail Group lifted 6p to 200.4p.
IG analyst Alastair McCaig said: "The feeding frenzy that appears to be happening in shopping malls up and down the country should ensure festive sales for the retail sector get off to a flying start."
The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 Index were Carnival up 123p to 2820p, Kingfisher up 10.3p to 312p, and St James's Place up 24p to 794p. Biggest fallers in the FTSE 100 Index were BG Group, down 86.5p to 900.2p and Tullow Oil down 38.9p to 426p.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article