Energy stocks steam ahead as large caps flatline

A fourth Tanazanian gas discovery by BG Group sent its shares up 1pc. That also lifted Ophir Energy up 15.4pc as the FTSE 250 explorer is a partner of BG in Tanzania. BP ticked up 0.1pc. Last Thursday, the oil major got a green light to drill a deepwater well off the Shetland Islands and over the weekend, there were reports that it had put North Sea oil assets worth close to £2bn up for sale. Oil and gas services group, Petrofac, gained 1.4pc. But, that did not much help the benchmark index in morning trading. Persistent concerns over damp global economic growth weighed on the miners, with Vedanta Resources down 2.2pc. That dragged on the FTSE 100, which managed to edge up only 8 points to 5864. "[Recent] data from China will probably continue to be digested by investors and, being weighed up against improving conditions in the US, this could potentially cause a temporary range-bound period until we receive further headline figures," said Jordan Lambert, a trader at Spreadex Ltd. Defying the market malaise was Aberdeen Asset Management. After revealing that clients had added £1.4bn of new money to its range of funds in the first two months of the year, Aberdeen added 3.8pc. Amongst the second-liners, easyJet soared 7.3pc after the low-cost carrier said it expected its first-half loss to be narrower than previously thought as cost controls and better marketing help it through tough times.