European stocks rise while oil prices slip after recent highs
The FTSE 100 moved 32.31 points higher, or 0.41%, to close at 7,943.47.
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Your support makes all the difference.European investors were in good spirits on Monday, with top stock indices climbing higher and oil prices slipping as Israel withdrew troops from southern Gaza.
London’s FTSE 100 recovered some, but not all, of its losses on Friday following a stronger session for miners and travel giants.
It moved 32.31 points higher, or 0.41%, to close at 7,943.47.
EasyJet was among the day’s biggest risers after recently rejoining the UK’s top stock index and seeing its rating upgraded by analysts at banking giant UBS. It promoted a similar jump in the share price of British Airways and Iberia owner IAG Group.
Elsewhere in Europe, Germany’s Dax moved 0.77% higher and France’s Cac was up 0.72%.
Over in the US, both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones were flat by the time European markets closed.
The price of Brent crude oil fell 1.6% to 89.70 US dollars per barrel, after climbing to more than five-month highs last week.
It came amid news that Palestinian citizens had started returning to the city of Khan Younis is southern Gaza after the Israeli military said it was withdrawing troops from the area.
Oil prices have been partially impacted by the conflict in the Middle East due to concerns about how it could affect supply.
Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst for Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Brent crude prices have softened to just under 90 US dollars a barrel, after Israel withdrew more troops from southern Gaza.
“The price remains elevated overall though and together with tighter supply globally, there isn’t an immediate catalyst for the price to loosen.”
The pound was up 0.2% to 1.2654 US dollars and was more or less flat against the euro to 1.1654.
In company news, shares in Cake Box moved higher after the cream cake retailer upgraded its profit outlook for the year thanks to stronger sales.
It also said it had benefited from the cost of raw materials starting to come down, and from previous investment making the business more efficient. Its share price closed 2.5% higher.
CVS’s share price remained steady despite the vet group revealing it had suffered significant disruption from a cyber incident over the past week.
The company said it had managed to limit the impact of the attack but that hackers had managed to access a limited number of its IT systems, so it was now ramping up cyber security. Shares in CVS dipped by 0.2%.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Entain, up 41p to 825p, Rio Tinto, up 209.5p to 5,184p, EasyJet, up 18.6p to 577.8p, Anglo American, up 67p to 2,155p, and Scottish Mortgage Investment Tryst, up 26.4p to 884p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Sage Group, down 34.5p to 1,212.5p, Flutter Entertainment, down 360p to 15,535p, Severn Trent, down 46p to 2,382p, Rightmove, down 10p to 534.8p, and Marks & Spencer, down 4.7p to 256.5p.