Blue-chip shares bounce back as oil price rises

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continued [its] push higher as the positive sentiment around the energy markets continues.

“The marginal decline in US oil production last week spurred on buyers. There is a sense that the huge drop oil suffered between May and June was overdone, and the turnaround in oil is just correction within the wider downward trend.”

Across Europe, Germany’s Dax was up 1.2 per cent and the Cac 40 in France pushed 1.5 per cent higher.

On the currency markets, the pound took a tumble after the latest update on Britain’s manufacturing industry came in shy of expectations. Sterling was down 0.5 per cent versus the US dollar at 1.294, with a slowdown in new orders causing industry output to drift to a three-month low. The closely watched Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) showed a reading of 54.3 last month, down from 56.3 in May and below economists’ forecasts of 56.4. reading above 50 indicates growth.

The pound was also marginally down against the euro at 1.138. UK stocks and Britain’s banking giants enjoyed a strong session, as investors priced in comments from Bank of England governor Mark Carney on Wednesday suggesting interest rates could rise.

Mr Carney said: “Some removal of monetary stimulus is likely to become necessary,” but it would depend on whether a drop in household spending is countered by more companies ploughing money back into their businesses.

skipped three per cent higher, up 8.3p to 255.5p, and rose 18.10p to 729.8p.

The prospect of an interest rate hike boosts banking stocks because it suggest lenders will be able to charge customers more for their financial products.

On the second tier, fashion retailer raced ahead after a 53.1 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £84.8 million for the 52 weeks to April 29.

Shares were up 41p to 1,536p as the firm also revealed that sales rose 27.4 per cent to £752m.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 Index were up 14.4p to 301.6p, up 132.5p to 3,374.5p, up 41p to 1,065p, and

up 8.3p to 255.5p. The biggest fallers were

down 65p to 2,368p, down 42p to 2,229p,

down 21p to 1,281p, and down 3.6p to 237.6p. THE S&P 500 and Dow Industrials moved higher yesterday, with the Dow hitting an intraday record as energy and bank stocks gained, but continued weakness in the technology sector pulled the Nasdaq lower.

The S&P energy index rose two per cent, its best performance in nearly a month, led by gains in and

Both Brent and US crude climbed more than one per cent to resume its longest stretch of daily rallies in more than five years after data pointed to moderating US output, pushing energy names higher.

Financials, up 1.3 per cent, also supported gains. The sector notched its sixth advance in the seven sessions. The Nasdaq was lower as the technology sector saw its recent struggles continue, down 0.9 on the session after a drop of nearly three per cent last week.

Trading volume was light, due to the abbreviated trading session ahead of the Independence Day holiday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 129.64 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 21,479.27, the S&P 500 gained 5.6 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 2,429.01 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 30.36 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 6,110.06.

Automakers advanced, with up 3.3 per cent and

up 1.8 per cent as vehicle sales figures for June showed retail sales to consumers were relatively stable at the US automakers.