Footsie ends session flat despite oil rise

Despite oil prices soaring after two tankers appeared to be attacked in the Gulf of Oman, the FTSE 100 only managed to tick up by less than a single point.

Closing up just 0.95 points to 7,368.57, investors in the blue chip index remained cautious, waiting for news from the tankers - but also watching for signals in the endless war of words between China and the US.

France and Germany were also quiet, with the Paris-based Cac flat and the Frankfurt-based Dax up 0.44 per cent.

Oil was the big mover of the day, with a barrel of Brent Crude jumping 2.6 per cent to $61.53, moving up from five-month lows. At points in the day, it rose by as much as 4 per cent

But despite the oil gains, big name oil businesses failed to capitalise, with Shell and BP remaining unmoved. Supermarket giant Tesco said UK sales growth slowed in the three months to 25 May, with like-for-like sales up just 0.4 per cent.

Shares in early trading initially fell, but closed up 0.9 per cent at 229.5p.

Morrisons’ investors cheered the news that the company had extended its online offering via Amazon, with shares in the supermarket closing up 2.15 per cent at 199.45p.

Housebuilder Persimmon was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 dropping 4.5 per cent to 1,955p, as it went ex-dividend.

Shares in model train maker Hornby ended the day unchanged at 33.2p despite it saying it was on track for a turnaround thanks to management weaning themselves off the “drug” of discounting.