FTSE 100 gains ground as oil and gas price rises help BP and Shell
London’s top index moved 0.5%, or 38.12 points, higher to finish at 7,614.48.
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Your support makes all the difference.The FTSE 100 closed higher as BP and Shell made gains because of a jump in energy prices driven by disruption to Red Sea shipments.
Volatile energy stocks continued gains from late last week because of potential pressure on both oil and gas supplies, with pro-Hamas militants in Yemen seeking to attack supplies potentially heading to Israel.
Energy firms and other commodity stocks helped the FTSE therefore outperform European peers.
London’s top index moved 0.5%, or 38.12 points, higher to finish at 7,614.48.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil was up by 3% to 78.88 US dollars (£62.33) as markets were closing in London.
Wholesale gas prices rose more sharply, with the European benchmark for gas, Dutch front month futures, rising by as much as 7% to more than 35 euros per megawatt hour.
Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: “This morning’s jump in oil and gas prices has sent BP and Shell higher on the back of the decision by BP to suspend all tanker transits through the Red Sea until further notice due to safety concerns over Houthi rebel attacks.
“We’ve seen a negative start to the last trading week before Christmas with the FTSE 100 bucking the negative tone due to a strong performance from the energy sector, along with telecoms, amid M&A (merger and acquisition) speculation.”
Elsewhere in Europe, the other main markets witnessed weaker sentiment as German business morale declined unexpectedly in the latest Ifo institute survey.
The Dax index was down 0.6% at the close and the Cac 40 closed down 0.37%.
In the US, the Dow Jones saw stocks edge higher due to improving sentiment in the latest survey of housebuilders.
Meanwhile, the pound was down 0.31% at 1.263 US dollars but was 0.56% lower at 1.156 euros at market close in London.
In company news, Vodafone shares made strong gains after it received an offer to merge its Italian operations with those of telecommunications firm Iliad Group in a deal which values the division at £9 billion.
Shares rose by 2.51p to 67.23p after Iliad said the firms joining forces would “create the most innovative telecom challenger” in Italy and accelerate the rollout of fibre broadband and 5G.
Games Workshop was higher after it finalised a deal with Amazon to make films and TV series based on its Warhammer fantasy games.
Shares in the tabletop game maker closed up 165p at 9,955p after it sealed the deal, which had first been revealed a year ago.
Fresnillo was a significant faller after brokers at Morgan Stanley cut their valuation of the mining stock.
Shares in the FTSE 100 company closed down 30.6p at 555p.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Entain, up 38.6p to 977.2p, Vodafone, up 2.51p to 67.23p, Airtel Africa, up 3.2p to 125p, AstraZeneca, up 170p to 10356p, and GSK, up 23.4p to 1442.6p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Fresnillo, down 30.6p to 555p, Berkeley Group, down 164p to 4,705p, Barratt Developments, down 14.4p to 551.6p, RS Group, down 18.4p to 816.6p, and Kingfisher, down 5.2p to 239p.