FTSE exceeds 6,900 level on oil agreement

Market report Emma Newlands

Oil majors led the charge as the London market burst back through the 6,900 mark following investor cheer over an outputlimiting deal struck by the Opec oil cartel.

The FTSE 100 Index was up 70.04 to 6,919.42 after Opec reached its first agreement in eight years to cut oil output by about 700,000 barrels a day. Royal Dutch Shell B leapt 6.7 per cent to 2,022p, while rival BP rose 4.3 per cent to 451p. Additionally, Brent crude prices edged closer to the $50 a barrel mark following the announcement.

Jasper Lawler, analyst at CMC Markets, said: “The proposed deal should keep a floor under oil prices until Opec’s meeting in November, when the details will be ironed out.”

In UK stocks, positive sentiment in the wake of the Opec deal gave a lift to London-listed mining giants, with Glencore up 6.5p to 215.9p.

Shares in Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainments fell 27.5p to 442.1p after it said visitor numbers were still being affected after last year’s Smiler rollercoaster crash. NEW YORK: Wall Street, however, ended lower, led by drops in drugmakers and banks, the latter falling as worries grow about Deutsche Bank, Germany’s biggest lender.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 197.79 points, or 1.07 per cent, to end on 18,143.45 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 20.24 points, or 0.93 per cent, finishing on 2,151.13. The Nasdaq Composite index was also in negative territory, closing at 5,269.15, down 49.40 points or 0.93 per cent. The specialist in microwave electronics products said it traded “strongly” in its first quarter, ending 31 August, and returned to profitability. The outsourcing giant’s share price suffered what one analyst deemed “Capita punishment” after it issued a profit warning for the full year.