In London, the equities markets closed down on Friday. The FTSE 100 lost 0.6 percent on to close at 5,230.80, almost even for the week, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.5 percent on the day to 7,470.8, an 0.6 percent decline on the week.

The biggest losers for the week were the oil companies, as the oil and gas sector fell 3.7 percent for the week, with the biggest individual losers being BP, Shell, and BG Group.

BP’s losses were capped by the revelation on Tuesday that one of its drilling platforms had been damaged by Hurricane Dennis, while Shell had to admit on Thursday that one of it’s gas projects was going to cost twice the originally estimated price.

Friday’s big winners were companies that use a great deal of fuel. British Airways gained 1.6 percent to 276 ¾p, while EasyJet was up 2.8 percent to 264p.

Banks didn’t do as well, as Royal Bank of Scotland lost 0.8 percent to £17.53 on a downgrade fro Cazenove and HBOS lost 0.8 percent to 889p on a ratings cut by CSFB.