OIL giant Royal Dutch Shell dragged on London's top-flight today after annual results came in below City expectations.
Shell's disappointing performance in the final quarter of 2014 triggered a sell-off across the heavily-weighted sector, with BP also lower.
Strong share rises from easyJet and drinks giant Diageo pulled the FTSE 100 Index in the other direction but it still closed 15.3 points down at 6810.6.
Analysts were also weighing the prospect of higher interest rates in the United States after Federal Reserve policy makers produced a bullish assessment of the country's economic progress at their latest meeting as well as a rise in German unemployment.
The pound was down a cent against the US dollar at just over 1.50 and also off a cent against the euro at 1.33 though still not far off recent seven-year highs.
Germany's Dax and France's Cac 40 were both ahead, as was New York's Dow Jones Industrial Average.
In London the energy sector was in focus, after Shell's 12% rise in underlying profits to 3.26 billion US dollars (£2.15 billion) for the final quarter of 2014.
The figure was below expectations of 4.1 billion US dollars (£2.7 billion) and triggered a fall in its shares of 5% or 110p to 2138p.
Shell, which has been hit by a sharp fall in Brent crude prices since last summer, also said it planned to cut spending by 15 billion US dollars (£9.9 billion) over the next three years.
Despite the results disappointment, chief executive Ben van Beurden insisted the company had delivered "where it counts in 2014".
He said: "We are stepping up our drive for stronger capital efficiency, whilst being careful not to over-react to the recent fall in oil prices."
The disappointing profits figure impacted on BP, which was down 8.1p to 424.8p ahead of its own results next week. Tullow Oil fell 6.1p to 350.9p.
In other corporate results, Guinness and Smirnoff drinks giant Diageo rose 3% or 60.5p to 2022.5p amid relief over its first half results performance, even though profits dropped 18% to £1.3 billion.
Analysts were encouraged by signs of momentum after the second part of the half year numbers showed some improvement. Other consumer goods firms benefited as Unilever rose 55p to 2952p and Reckitt Benckiser lifted 100p to 5720p.
Low-cost airline easyJet set the pace in the FTSE 100, rising by more than 6% or 109p to 1876p after analysts at Barclays upgraded the stock in the wake of upbeat trading figures earlier in the week.
Outside the top-flight, pubs and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers made little headway despite reporting 4.8% like-for-like sales growth over Christmas - as it admitted margins were still being hit by a "careful approach" to pricing. Shares rose 1.5p to 423.5p.
The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 Index were easyJet up 109p to 1876p, Hargreaves Landsdown up 38p to 1033p, Diageo up 60.5p to 2022.5p and Barratt Developments up 12.7p to 470.4p.
The biggest fallers in the FTSE 100 Index were Fresnillo down 47.5p to 862.5p, Royal Dutch Shell down 110p to 2138p, Randgold Resources down 165p to 5420p and Glencore down 7.6p to 250.4p.
ends
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