London shares edged ahead in early trading in the City today as oil giants BP and Shell continued to recover from their recent falls.
A rebound in the oil price fuelled the gains made by both stocks, which came in a subdued start for the FTSE 100 Index.
After the first hour, and with little corporate news for investors to digest, the FTSE was up 25.0 at 5,323.7.
BP climbed 12p to 540p and Shell jumped 4.5p to 498.5p after crude oil began to move upwards after hitting $17 at one stage last week.
Feelings non-Opec and Opec producing countries could reach an agreement over production cuts pushed crude back towards the $20 barrier.
Other energy stocks were also on the up, including former British Gas group BG, which moved 5.5p higher to 262p. Power group Innogy rose 4.5p to 206.5p.
The FTSE’s climb came despite a poor start by telecoms and media stocks, with mobile phone giant Vodafone down 2p at 180.5p early on.
Negative sentiment surrounding the sector also pushed BT down 2p to 284.5p, while its former mobile phone business mmO2 drifted 1p to 82.5p.
Of the media stocks on the way down, ITV broadcaster Granada was off 3p at 146p, BSkyB eased 13.5p to 816.5p and advertising giant WPP fell 15p to 681p.
The UK’s second-biggest supermarket chain, Sainsbury’s, was also drifting lower despite reporting a 3% rise in first-half profits.
Chief executive Sir Peter Davis said the group was making “excellent progress” but its shares fell 1.5p to 385.5p.
Among smaller stocks, FTSE 250 computer services firm Dimension Data fell 5%, or 5p, to 96p as its full-year results showed the impact of the hi-tech slump.
Losses spiralled to more than £1bn and the group said the trading environment continued to be uncertain.
EGi News 21/11/01
