FTSE 100 opened on a slight positive note holding above the 10,440 level as rising oil prices supported energy majors. Weakness in mining and select defensive stocks capped wider gains. The index traded around 10,449, up around 13 points or 0.1%.
Oil majors gained ground as Brent crude climbed above $110 per barrel. This boosted sentiment across the energy sector.
BP advanced nearly 1% to £598 while Shell gained close to 1% to trade at £3,576. The rally in oil continues to strengthen earnings outlooks for upstream producers. Supply concerns linked to Middle East tensions still impact the market.
Among others Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust rose 3.08% to £1,307 while Games Workshop climbed 2.35% to £18,065 and Smiths Group added 1.82% to £2,411.
Also Tobacco major Imperial Brands advanced 1.61% to £3,126.50, and Pearson gained 1.54% to £1,024.50.
On the downside mining stocks continued to struggle. This reflected pressure from commodity price volatility. Endeavour Mining declined 0.91% to £4,564 while Fresnillo declined over 1%.
Healthcare heavyweight AstraZeneca fell 0.64% to £15,218 while SSE backed 0.66% to £2,710 and Severn Trent eased 0.41% to £3,164.
Private equity firm 3i Group also dropped 1.23% to £2,654 while Babcock International fell 0.86% to £1,265. British Airways owner IAG has fallen £3.9 to £363.3.
Unilever is planning to fuel its €13 billion health and well-being arm after dropping its food brands in €45 billion merger last week.
Jostein Solheim, chief executive of Unilever’s health and wellness division, told the Times the firm is “always evaluating what opportunities there are for others to join this collective of companies”. “Critical for us is science. If I’m looking ahead, I think the hydration category is still a massively untapped space,” he said.
Advisory firm MHA has completed acquisition of Moore Stephens UAE (MS UAE). The move rebrands the firm’s audit, tax and consulting arms under the MHA name.
The decision integrates MS UAE’s presence in the Dubai International Financial Centre and other major free zones into MHA’s international network.
MS UAE’s recent revenue figures came in at AED 32 million with the acquisition projected to be “earnings enhancing” within the first full financial year.
The firm reported record revenue of £224.2 million for the year ending 31 March 2025 which is a 45% growth from 2024.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index last night rose 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite lifted 0.5%.
In Asia, Hang Seng declined 0.7% in Hong Kong, but Japan's Nikkei and Korea's Kospi up 0.2% and 0.6%.
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