London’s blue-chip stocks have risen to a three-week high this morning, with the big-name oil companies boosted by the latest rally in prices of the black stuff.
The FTSE 100, home to the UK’s biggest companies, climbed for the fourth day in a row as it put on another 45.42 points, or 0.6 per cent, in early trading to take it to 7,450.15 and its highest since the end of February.
The index has recovered nearly all of its losses from earlier in 2022 and is down by 0.7 per cent year-to-date. That compares with the Dax in Germany, which is more than 10 per cent below where it started the year, and the French Cac 40, which is down by 8 per cent for 2022.
London’s outperformance has been driven by its greater bias towards the energy and mining stocks that have profited from surging commodity prices, which rose again today. The price of a barrel of Brent crude zipped up 4 per cent as it moved back above $112 for the first time in ten days amid speculation that European countries were mulling a Russian oil embargo.
Shares in Shell gained 58¼p, or 3 per cent, to £20.00 and BP, its fellow supermajor, added 10¼p, or 2.8 per cent, to 370¾p.
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Mining stocks also rallied, tracking a 5 per cent jump in aluminium prices after Australia banned exports of alumina — the key ingredient needed to make aluminium — to Russia. That buoyed Glencore shares, which improved 14p, or 2.9 per cent, to 493¼p, as well as Anglo American, which rose 152p, or 4.1 per cent, to £38.37.
A tier below the blue chips, the more UK-biased FTSE 250 snapped a three-day winning streak as it fell back 171.13 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 20,985.49.
Balfour Beatty, the construction group, shed 9¾p, or 3.6 per cent, to 258p after Morgan Stanley analysts downgraded their rating to “underweight”.
Another bearish broker note, this time from Barclays, knocked 18¼p, or 5.7 per cent, off the AJ Bell share price, which slipped to 303¼p.