Mid morning wrapup
Oil giant BP saw its shares rise by two per cent this morning as its deal with Russian company Rosneft for arctic exploration boosted the stock.
Analysts said the tie-up with state-controlled Rosneft opened up massive reserves in the arctic, a region they said was believed to contain one fifth of the world’s undiscovered oil. The BP agreement lifted the energy sector in general.
Other stocks showing some movement were those of medical equipment supplier Smith & Nephew. It jumped 3.5 per cent
after a weekend report that Johnson & Johnson was considering a fresh takeover approach worth at least 800 pence a share.
The FTSE 100 dipped a little overall, but with US markets closed for a public holiday trading was light.
A meeting of euro zone finance ministers will be held today with the size of the bailout funds available to struggling economies – and the way they are distributed – on
the agenda.
The 16-nation group has indicated it will beef up the amounts available as the sovereign debt crisis continues to cast a shadow despite successful bond issues by Spain and Portugal last week.
The euro dropped ahead of the meeting, with dealers indicating that any rise in the currency would depend on the outcome of the talks in Brussels.
Meanwhile Asian shares mostly fell overnight, led by a drop in Shanghai in the wake of China’s latest attempt to contain inflation.
New rules announced on reserves required by lenders have hit the Chinese banking sector.
In figures which help to provide a barometer for confidence in the UK property market Rightmove said a drop in the number of new homes coming onto the market had fuelled a rise in asking prices for the first time in three months.
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