Fire at refinery in Finland pushes oil prices

Crude oil prices reached $110 a barrel in London trading after a fire broke out at a refinery in Finland. The Financial Times reported today that a fire at at Neste’s Porvoo refinery in Finland, which occurred when company was shutting down its new diesel production line for maintenance on Friday, pushed prices near $110 per barrel.

Separately, the online edition reported that steel prices are poised to rise further after South Korea’s steelmaker Posco said yesterday it has agreed to a tripling in price of its supply of coking coal in a settlement that is likely to set the benchmark for the steel making industry.

As a result Posco said it has accepted a price rise of between 205% and 210% rise for its supplies from Australian miners.

Gainers & Losers

BHP Billiton led gainers in the FTSE 100 index shares with a rise of 4.57% followed by increases in Xstrata Plc of 2.25%, in Liberty International Plc of 1.99%, in Unilever Plc of 1.65%, and Sainsbury Plc of 1.68%.

Commodity stocks rose after a fire at a refinery in Finland pushed crude oil prices near $110 per barrel. Royal Dutch Shell rose 0.77% on the news.

Sage Group led decliners in the FTSE 100 index shares with a drop of 5.48% followed by losses in Cairn Energy of 5%, in London Stock Exchange of 4.48%, in Schroders NV of 3.68% and British Airways Plc of 3.65%.

Homebuilders fell after house price fell 2.5% in March. Home Retail Group slumped 2.84% and Persimmon shed 2.69%.

Other retailers declined as well. Marks & Spencer slipped 3.13% and Next Plc fell 3%.

Whitbread to spend £100 million on hotels and new properties

Whitbred reported today in a statement it plans to invest £100 million to buy hotels and properties, a development that will add 1,200 rooms.

The company will pay £18.5 million in cash for Real Hotel properties in Westminster and Kensington in central London and spend another £12 million to remodel them. An additional £70 million pounds will be spent to construct the three new hotels.