FTSE 100 falls as oil remains under pressure

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Shares in oil companies weighed on the UK stock market as crude prices remained under pressure.

Shortly after midday the FTSE 100 index was down 27.21 points, or 0.4%, at 7,420.58.

Shares in Royal Dutch Shell fell 0.8% and rival BP was also lower as oil traded at about $45 a barrel.

On Wednesday, the price of Brent crude oil had fallen to $44.35 a barrel, its lowest since November, although it had recovered to $45.16 on Thursday.

Oil prices have been dragged lower by excess supplies on the global market, despite the efforts of the Opec producers' cartel to limit output in order to push prices higher.

Pharmaceuticals firm Shire was one of the top risers in the FTSE 100, up 2.4% after the European Medicines Agency validated its marketing authorisation application for Veyvondi, which treats an inherited bleeding disorder called von Willebrand disease.

Outside the FTSE 100, shares in Imagination Technologies jumped 15% after the company put itself up for sale.

Imagination is in dispute with its largest customer, Apple, after the US tech giant announced earlier this year that it planned to stop using Imagination's technology in its products.

On the currency markets, the pound slipped 0.1% against the dollar to $1.2665 and was unchanged against the euro at 1.1348 euros.