"Fat finger" error lifts BP shares by 4.8%

12th Sep 2014 15:00

BP saw its shares rise in Friday after what analysts believed to have been a “fat finger” error.Traders said the sudden increase of 4.8% to 494.9p at 10:41 GMT, which added £4.3bn to BP’s market value, was probably caused by a human or keyboard mistake, Reuters reported.The shares were trading 0.3% lower to 470.9p at 11:00 GMT after an automatic five-minute suspension.The incident comes in the wake of last week's news that the company has been found negligent in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster by a federal judge.US District Judge Carl Barbier said the energy company was to blame for the biggest offshore oil spill in US history.The company is expected to pay billions of dollars more for the disaster, with penalties of up to $18bn. The oil company has set aside $3.5bn to cover the penalties, but has pledged to appeal against the decision.Shares were down 0.55% to 469.6p on Friday at 15:01.