Oil prices tumble as ‘hopes of de-escalation’ in Middle East rise
The FTSE 100 moved 36.78 points higher, or 0.45%, to close at 8,285.62.
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Top UK stocks made some afternoon gains after a slow start to trading on Monday, despite plummeting oil prices weighing on energy stocks.
The FTSE 100 moved 36.78 points higher, or 0.45%, to close at 8,285.62. Earlier in the day it had been down as much as 0.5%.
Soaring shares in aerospace firm Melrose Industries helped give the index a lift.
The stock was up nearly a 10th on Monday after giving investors an update on its cash flow and saying it expects to generate returns for shareholders over time.
Energy giants BP and Shell were among the biggest fallers of the day amid tumbling oil prices.
Stock indices begin the week on a positive footing as investors are relieved by Israel's muted retaliatory attack on Iran's military installations, avoiding oil or nuclear facilities
Axel Rudolph, senior technical analyst for IG, said: “Stock indices begin the week on a positive footing as investors are relieved by Israel’s muted retaliatory attack on Iran’s military installations, avoiding oil or nuclear facilities.”
He added that “hopes of de-escalation in the Middle East, coupled with easing fears of supply disruptions” provoked a fall in oil prices.
Brent crude oil was down about 5.5% to 71.90 US dollars per barrel by the time European markets closed.
In the US, the S&P 500 was up about 0.4%, and Dow Jones was 0.7% higher.
In Paris, the Cac 40 climbed 0.79%, and in Frankfurt, the Dax moved 0.35% higher.
The pound was more or less flat against the US dollar, at 1.3, and was down 0.1% against the euro, at 1.2.
In other company news, Lloyds Banking Group said it was “assessing the potential impact” of a court ruling last week that car dealerships must tell customers about any commission earned when they take out loans.
Shares in Lloyds fell sharply on Friday after the ruling, with Lloyds already setting aside hundreds of millions of pounds to cover potential costs relating to a probe currently being undertaken by the financial watchdog.
Its share price continued to fall on Monday and was down 2.7% at close.
Elsewhere, shares in Trainline surged after the ticketing platform increased its full-year guidance for the second time in two months.
Trainline said it would benefit from a bigger jump in net ticket sales this year than it had previously forecast. Shares in the company closed 9.2% higher.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Melrose Industries, up 43.6p to 486.6p, Pearson, up 28.5p to 1,071.5p, easyJet, up 13.8p to 520.4p, ConvaTec, up 5p to 224p, and Halma, up 53p to 2,522p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Lloyds, down 1.54p to 56.12p, Whitbread, down 54p to 3,239p, Endeavour Mining, down 28p to 1,818p, BP, down 5.8p to 399.1p, and Shell, down 34.5p to 2,516p.