Oil giants keep FTSE afloat
The oil majors kept the London market afloat today as crude prices continued their upward march.
BP and Shell both made progress as the cost of a barrel of US light crude added 43 cents to 52.4 US dollars.
The gains lifted the FTSE 100 Index by 7.9 points to 4971.9 by mid-morning.
The improvement for the top flight index came despite a weak session for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which closed 75 points lower last night.
A further drag was caused by a clutch of stocks going ex-dividend, meaning they no longer carry the right to the most recent dividend payment.
Economic news failed to help out, with figures showing the manufacturing sector shrinking at its quickest rate for over two years in May.
Back on the corporate front, the three week high for oil prices helped to push BP up 6p to 557p and Shell by 3p to 480.5p.
However, fallers included Marks & Spencer, which slipped 5.75p to 331.75p and Boots, off 19p at 587p. Vodafone, which is one of the market’s biggest stocks, was 1.25p lower at 137.5p after going ex-dividend.
Banking shares were holding firm after Halifax Bank of Scotland said bad debts were rising in line with expectations. It also reported “good trading in calmer markets”, helping shares lift 3p to 803.5p.
Among its rivals, Royal Bank of Scotland rose 9p to 1625p and Barclays cheered 4.5p to 526p.
And Northern Foods was 1p lower at 155.75p, following its announcement of a 6.7% fall in annual underlying profits.
Magazine publisher Emap lost a penny to 803.5p after newspaper and radio group Scottish Radio Holdings rebuffed a proposed £374 million takeover approach.
However, SRH gained nearly 15% or 129.5p to 1002p as investors welcomed the decision of the company’s board.
