FTSE up ahead of central bank meetings

The FTSE closed higher after a positive swing late in trading helped May start on a strong footing.

The index was supported by bumper profits by oil giant BP although a general softening across commodity firms meant the FTSE spent most of the session in the red.

A late Monday rebound in the US meant most other markets were primed for selling off at the start of play yesterday but sentiment improved ahead of key central bank meetings later this week.

The FTSE 100 ended the day up 16.78 points, or 0.22%, at 7,561.33 points.

Elsewhere in Europe, the situation was also mixed, with the French Cac down 0.2% and the German Dax increased 0.55% by the end of the session.

The US markets made cautious gains at the start of the trading following a sharp turnaround on Monday from their lowest levels of the year, amid continued uncertainty over what to expect from the latest Federal Reserve meeting today.

Meanwhile, sterling edged higher after yesterday morning’s surprise decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to hike interest rates, before the Bank of England’s own decision tomorrow.

The pound increased by 0.01% against the dollar to 1.251, and rose 0.08% against the euro to 1.188.

In company news, BP led the FTSE 100 after it notched up its highest quarterly underlying profits for more than a decade thanks to rocketing oil and gas prices.

The oil major saw underlying replacement cost profits more than double to $6.2 billion US dollars (£5bn) for the first three months of the year from $2.6bn (£2.1bn) a year ago.