THE TIPSTER
Rolls Royce has steadily gained ground since 2009, even in an era of reduced defence expenditure. Its shares had a quiet 2011 until October, when they began making impressive progress, up almost 40 per cent to date. Increasing orders make its shares a more compelling possibility, even if they reside near all-time highs. IG Index quotes Rolls Royce at 823p-825p.
BP will be key to investor sentiment this week. With the UK in recession, the oil giant looks to have made a slight bounce-back, albeit slowly, from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill a couple of years ago. The recent sell off in assets to amend for the spill will likely impact on production but high oil prices might go some way to temper this. Its share price is finding resistance at 450p, so it’s not clear if this will be enough to see a move back above this level. CMC Markets quotes BP at 441.55p-442.21p.
Gulf Keystone rallied sharply yesterday morning, following a positive update from the company on its drilling programme. The shares of the northern Iraq-focused oil explorer have slumped since late February, following a sharp run-up since the beginning of the year. The price appears to be stabilising above 225p. GFT last quoted Gulf Keystone at 238p to 239p.
RBS reports on Friday and investors and taxpayers alike will be hoping for some good numbers. Following the continual row over bankers’ bonuses, it’s time we saw some decent numbers. Capital Spreads quotes a price of 27.88p-27.97p.