Oil prices rise after drop in US stockpiles

Oil prices have reached a two-week high following a report that showed a drop in crude inventories in the US.

The Energy Information Administration report showed US stockpiles declined by 5.83 million barrels, a far bigger drop than analysts were expecting.

This sent Brent crude upwards, with prices rising 2.1% to 74.311 US dollars a barrel during trading.

Markets put in a mixed performance as trade tensions between the US and both China and the EU continued to impact stock movements.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets, said: “Chinese delegates are set to meet US representatives today to discuss trade.

“The meeting will hopefully lay the groundwork for a meeting between President Trump and the Chinese in November.

By the close, the FTSE 100 was up 0.11% or 8.54 points to 7,574.24, while the Cac in France rose 0.25% and the Dax in Germany was flat.

In currency markets, the US dollar weakened as traders mulled over Mr Trump’s comments about the Federal Reserve raising rates.

Sterling was up 0.05% against the dollar at 1.290, while the euro rose 0.17% against the dollar to 1.159.

The pound weakened against the euro, however, falling by 0.13% to 1.113.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Ocado Group up 20.5p to 1,100p, Fresnillo up 16.6p to 946.8p and BHP Billiton up 25.4p to 1,636p.

The biggest fallers were NMC Health down 150p to 3,908p, easyJet down 57.5p to 1,554.5p and Johnson Matthey down 109p to 3,533p.