FTSE 100 live: Oil rises to the top of London’s blue chip index as week’s trading draws to a close
A rise in oil prices bolstered a FTSE 100 which had been battered by knocks in confidence over the banking sector most of the week.
The FTSE 100 was last up 80.62 points at 7,490.65, a rise of 1.09 per cent, while the FTSE 250 – which includes more UK-centric listed companies was trading at 18,871.94 up 113.36 points or 0.60 per cent.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor said European markets opened higher with oil giants like Shell and BP at the top of the FTSE 100 thanks to strengthening oil prices.
She pointed out that focus would turns to the latest euro area inflation data at 10am which is expected to remain at around 8.5 per cent a day after the ECB raised rates by 50 basis points despite the market turmoil.
Overnight in Asia, markets closed higher with the Hang Seng leading the gains up by more than 1.6 per cent.
” After a strong finish on Wall Street with the tech-heavy Nasdaq closing up almost 2.5 per cent US futures are pointing to a higher open as markets attempt to regain ground after the last week’s volatility.”
Banking sector supported by First Republic support
Scholar said US stocks had rallied after the largest Wall Street banks including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley have grouped together to provide $30bn for First Republic Bank to support the bank and help stem wider financial contagion.
“The stock surged 10 per cent yesterday but are still down 50 per cent over the past five trading days. Pre-market the stock is reversing gains, shedding around 10 per cent, suggesting the package does not go far enough to alleviate the risks. Plus First Republic announced plans to suspend its dividend, with the reduced investor pay out also weighing on shares.
Following the demise of Silicon Valley Bank there have been worries that First Republic could be next. Turmoil at Credit Suisse has added to the sense of unease within the banking sector. Over the past week banks have borrowed $300 billion from the Federal Reserve, around half of which was for SVB and Signature Bank.”