Oil price surge spurs FTSE on
Climbing oil prices helped the FTSE 100 Index hit its highest closing point since early March today.
With the price of a barrel of crude moving towards 55 US dollars by the end of the session, heavyweights BP and Shell added around 1.5% to their market values.
The Footsie closed 21.2 points stronger at 5030.4, a 30-point rise on the week and representing considerable progress since early May when it was languishing around the 4800 mark.
There was no momentum from across the Atlantic this afternoon, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average broadly flat by the end of trading in London.
BP was the highest oil industry riser with a 9.5p gain to 573p. Shell was close behind with a 7p improvement to 491p while gas exploration company BG Group added 3.25p to 437.5p.
Cable & Wireless led the blue-chip climbers amid market speculation it may bid for fellow telecoms firm Thus. The stock advanced nearly 4% or 5p to 141.5p. Among other telcos, O2 rose 2.75p to 126.75p, making it the day’s fourth biggest riser.
Banks also featured on the Footsie risers board as an upbeat mood swept across a range of sectors. Barclays cheered 8.5p to 528.5p, HBOS lifted 10.5p to 830.5p and Lloyds TSB was 5p higher at 462.5p.
Reuters was another of the session’s winners, up 7p to 407p as the news and information group benefited from a positive broker note.
Traditionally defensive stocks paid the price for the rises elsewhere, with tobacco group BAT down 7p at 1093.5p and rival Imperial Tobacco off 12p at 1532p.
On a slow day for corporate news, Woolworths made progress after announcing a number of new appointments to its board. Shares in the FTSE 250 stock increased by a penny to 36.5p.
Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel lost 0.25p to 16.75p after announcing its chief executive had quit in the wake of a boardroom row. Jean-Louis Raymond, who took the helm after a shareholder revolt last year, is said to have clashed with chairman Jacques Gounon.
London brewer Fuller’s was also in the red, losing 3% or 30p to 912.5p despite posting a 6% rise in underlying profits.
And shares in GW Pharmaceuticals slumped by more than a quarter, off 25p at 70.5p after regulators turned down an appeal to allow the licensing of its cannabis-based drug in the UK.
Shop till group Torex Retail lost ground after unveiling a £73 million deal for rival XN Checkout that will help it expand into the pub and restaurant sector. Torex slipped 6p to 98p, while the proposed deal also affected XN Checkout – off 14.5p to 242.5p.
The biggest Footsie risers today were Cable & Wireless up 5p to 141.5p, Scottish Power rising 13.75p to 478p, Hanson up 11.5p to 522p and O2 rising 2.75p to 126.75p.
The heaviest fallers were Scottish & Newcastle down 8.25p to 473.75p, BSkyB off 9p to 525.5p, GlaxoSmithKline down 21p to 1354p and Rentokil Initial off 1.25p to 149.75p.
