Footsie hits new record as oil price rises

Market report Perry Gourley

London’s top-flight index hit record heights as blue-chip energy stocks boosted the market after the price of oil struck a two-year high.

The FTSE 100 index edged up 1.93 points to close at an all-time high of 7,562.28.

Oil majors were among the blue-chip stocks giving the market a boost as they tracked the price of Brent crude which rose 2.4 per cent to $63.58 a barrel.

Shares in BP and Royal Dutch Shell B were up 4.3p to 521.1p and 18.5p to 2,490p respectively, as traders reacted to Saudi Arabia’s drive to stamp out corruption.

Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, said: “Arguably, the UK index should have done better given the showing from its commodity stocks.”

Challenger bank Aldermore rose more than 3 per cent after its board agreed a £1.1 billion takeover by South Africa’s Firstrand.

The offer from the financial services firm, whose business interests range from investment and retail banking to asset management, will see it fork out 313p per share.

It represents a 22 per cent premium to Aldermore’s closing share price on 12 October. Firstrand said it aims to diversify Aldermore’s proposition in the UK, with the possible addition of services such as car financing, personal loans and insurance.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Convatec Group, up 6.9p at 188.9p, BHP Billiton, up 36.5p at 1,464p, and Severn Trent, up 54p at 2,185p. The biggest fallers were G4S, down 6.9p at 279.6p, and RSA Insurance Group, down 10p at 607.5p. The online estate agency said in a stock market trading update that it remains on course to meet the board’s expectations for the full year. The software firm said it had seen a slower market than expected and that contracts anticipated for this quarter have so far failed to materialise.