Oil majors cast shadow over UK dividends after price slump

The steep fall in the oil price could damage growth and dividend prospects for some of the UK's biggest stocks, adding to managers' concerns over the outlook for the wider market.

Brent crude oil prices have fallen 40% since June, dropping from $114 a barrel to below $70 last week, as demand weakens and suppliers decline to cut production. The UK’s two oil majors, Shell and BP, have been badly hit, dropping 13% and 12% respectively over the past three months. Their fall was another drag on the resource-heavy UK blue chip index, which has already been held back by the knock-on effects of the oil price slump. As of last week, the FTSE 100 had risen 8% since the October lows for global equity markets, compared to a 13.5% rise for the EuroStoxx 50 and an 11.5% rebo...