Oil and gas stocks led a surge in the London market today as the FTSE looked to recover from last week’s fall.
Shares in BP and BG Group were up nearly 3% in the first hour of trading while Royal Dutch Shell was ahead by just under 2% to help the FTSE 100 Index move forward by 13.1 points to 5288.1.
Corporate results were thin on the ground but a steady rise in oil prices attracted investors to energy stocks, which make up 20% of the top flight.
BP and BG Group led the charge, up 16.5p and 14p to 630p and 498p respectively. Royal Dutch Shell cheered 28p to 1832p and Cairn Energy was 22p ahead at 1725p.
There was less positive sentiment surrounding banking stocks however, with HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS and Northern Rock all suffering early losses.
Friday’s big mover Hilton Group was also in the red, falling back 2p to 343.5p after a 13% rise at the end of last week amid speculation that US-based Hilton Hotels Corporation was willing to £3.6bn for the UK firm.
Outside the top flight, GCap Media caused excitement amid reports that Cinven could be about the launch a bid, and the share price jumped 35p to 343.25p today.
References: EGi News 17/10/05
