Weakness among mining and oil stocks failed to prevent the FTSE 100 Index from creeping back towards the 7000 barrier today.
The top flight was 21.1 points higher at 6994.2 following a week in which investors have been focused on the potential for higher borrowing costs following a period of turbulence in bond markets.
ITV was one of the session’s big gainers as shares put back losses seen after a trading update yesterday. Positive broker comment helped the recovery as shares lifted by nearly 2%, up 4.5p to 261.85p.
Ithaca Energy said yesterday its operating costs were down by about 30% from a year ago as the global oil and gas industry adjusts to lower crude prices.
First quarter results from UK North Sea-focused Ithaca showed it has reduced the costs associated with each barrel of oil it produces to less than $35.
The Aberdeen and Calgary firm also highlighted the impact of tax changes announced by Chancellor George Osborne in the March Budget.
Vedanta Resources posted a full-year loss after a sharp drop in crude prices precipitated a $4.5 billion writedown related to its Indian oil and gas business.
The company's London-listed shares fell as much as 4 percent early on Thursday before recovering to 660 pence, unchanged from the previous day's close.
Best known as a mining company, Vedanta bought a controlling stake in Cairn India Ltd CAIL.NS, India's largest private-sector oil producer, in 2011.
Like other resources companies, it has struggled with plummeting commodity prices in the last year. Brent crude collapsed to a low of just above $45 a barrel in January from a high of $115 last June.
Oil prices eased slightly on Thursday as weak data from the world's top economies raised concern about the outlook for global fuel demand.
Uncertainty over the strength of any decline in US oil output also weighed.
The larger economic picture offset data that showed a large drawdown in US crude stockpiles last week.
June Brent crude was trading 10 cents down at $66.71 a barrel as of 0917 GMT. US crude for June delivery, at $60.20, was 30 cents lower.
Waldron Energy is to sell its Strachan and Ricinus assets for $12.3million.
The disposition process has begun and the sale is expected to close this week.
What happens to a wealthy, oil-reliant nation when crude prices collapse and unprecedented monetary easing threatens to scupper returns for its sovereign wealth fund?
Yngve Slyngstad, who manages Norway's $900 billion wealth fund, has said many times in the past year that in a low-and even negative-interest rate world the fund will not be able to hit its expected 4 percent real return.
The real world impact is that fiscal spending will need to be checked.
The Norwegian government has a self-imposed rule capping use of the fund's money in its budget to the expected return. That has meant increased spending each year, in krone-terms, as the fund has ballooned in size. The current minority coalition said in October it will use a record 164 billion kroner ($21.8 billion) in 2015, or about 3 percent of the fund.
The FTSE 100 Index has pulled back from Monday’s record high, despite a strong session for BP after the oil major’s results beat City forecasts.
Investors retreated to the sidelines amid jitters over this week’s Federal Reserve meeting, when US policymakers are expected to offer guidance on when interest rates will start to rise from their rock-bottom level.
The FTSE 100 Index surged to a best-ever intra-day level of 7122.7 on Monday - driven by hopes of an end to the deadlock on Greece’s debt talks - but this was followed today by a fall of 29.5 points to 7074.7.
Saipem has posted a better than expected profits boost in its first quarter results.
The Italian oil services group, which is 43% owned by oil major Eni, said its earnings before interest and taxes came in at €159million.
Companies threatened by plunging oil prices may find redemption in overly pessimistic analyst estimates made during last year’s slump in crude.
So says Andrew Cosgrove, a senior energy analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
It played out today in FMC Technologies Inc., which jumped the most in five years after first-quarter earnings beat Wall Street predictions thanks to subsea technologies revenue.
Its shares rose 7.5 percent to $40.56, the most in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
Swedish producer Lundin Petroleum has said it will be hit with a $204million non-cash foreign exchange loss in its first quarter results.
The company has also booked a $45million pre-tax exploration cost.
Lundin said whilst neither booking would have an impact on its operating cost or its core earnings, they would have an affect on the company's profitability.
Azinor Catalyst has acquired a licence in the UKCS (UK Continental Shelf) from Stavanger Petroleum Limited.
The licence, P.1946, covers block 15/12a and gives the company a 100% working interest in the asset.
The transaction was approved by DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change).
Russia’s economy showed signs of recovery in the first and second quarters amid a declining dependence on oil, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said.
“Oil prices are not as important to the Russian economy as before,” Dvorkovich told Bloomberg TV Monday at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Jakarta, adding that other factors such as the global environment and Russia’s own polices influence its economy. “As far as oil prices are concerned, we can live with different prices and still grow.”
US-traded Russian stocks last week posted their longest streak of weekly gains in two years as higher oil prices and a stronger ruble boosted the outlook for companies that depend on domestic demand.
Oilfield service company Hunting reported a 60% plunge in first quarter operating profits yesterday, blaming falling global rig counts and cost-cutting across the industry.
Shares in the company fell 8% to £5.36 in early trading on the London Stock Exchange but later recovered to around £5.88.check market close
Hunting, which announced in February it would cut an unspecified number of jobs and realign business units to help counter a drop in drilling activity, said its subsea, electronics and tubular component machining businesses did better in the first three months of 2015, compared with last year, offsetting weakness in its North American drilling tools operation.
Oil historian and economist Daniel Yergin has a forecast for where the price of crude is headed: all over the place.
The much debated shape of the oil-price curve will take the form of a W as crude is whipsawed by mixed signs from a rattled US shale boom, while Saudi Arabia refuses to balance a global supply glut, Yergin said in an interview.
As spending cuts are forecast to begin easing production from shale next month, the fate of world oil markets is largely in the hands of a myriad of US wildcatters, all with different strategies and an unusual ability to respond quickly to changed circumstances.
Ramping down will be quicker and easier than stepping up production as prices recover, said Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Inc. Increased supply will renew downward pressure on prices and volatility will be exacerbated by storage and investment decisions, he said.
Rising oil prices helped push the US stock market mostly higher, but the gains were tiny as investors weighed mixed results from companies reporting earnings.
Stocks fell shortly after the open yesterday, then headed mostly higher along with the price of oil. Chevron led the Dow Jones industrial average higher with a 2.2% gain.
A jump in JPMorgan Chase after the bank reported strong first-quarter earnings also helped push the blue-chip index higher. Wells Fargo slumped after reporting that its earnings had fallen.
The Dow Jones rose 59.66 points, or 0.3%, to 18,036.70. The Standard & Poor’s 500 climbed 3.41 points, or 0.2%, to 2,095.84. The Nasdaq composite fell 10.96 points, or 0.2%, to 4,977.29.
Stocks have generally been rising this year, but the gains have been modest as several factors from labour strife at West Coast ports, bad weather, a slump in oil prices and a strengthening dollar have dug into earnings.
A stronger currency makes profits earned overseas by US multinationals worth less when translated back to dollars.
Oil headed for a third quarterly loss as Iranian and Western diplomats worked toward a nuclear deal that may lead to the OPEC member increasing crude exports and worsening a global supply glut.
Futures dropped as much as 1.7% in New York, falling for a third day.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov left the talks in Switzerland and will only return if an agreement is in sight, signaling negotiations may continue into the final hours leading to Tuesday’s deadline.
US crude stockpiles probably expanded further from a record last week, a survey showed before government data Wednesday.
London’s top-flight headed lower today as oil prices stabilised but disappointing economic data from China dragged on commodity stocks.
The FTSE 100 Index had been hit by a widespread sell-off in the previous session after a military flare-up in the Middle East pushed the price of a barrel of Brent crude towards $60.
The index was 22.8 points lower at 6872.5 today as the oil price edged down to around $58 but overnight figures from China showed a sharp decline in industrial profits.
It meant the FTSE 100 was on course for a fourth successive day of losses as the buoyant mood which saw it top the 7,000 landmark last week - and achieve further record highs at the start of this one - ebbed away.
The FTSE 100 Index fell today as a military flare-up in the Middle East triggered a sharp rise the price of oil.
London’s top-flight was 40.6 points lower at 6950.4, after air strikes by Saudi Arabia on rebel targets in Yemen. The price of Brent crude rose 5% to just under 60 US dollars.
The increase saw heavyweight stock BP add 3.2p to 451.5p, though Royal Dutch Shell was flat at 2200.5p. Meanwhile, exploration firm BG Group rose 13.3p to 909p.
Oil rose as the shrinking size of US crude production gains and a falling dollar, which bolsters the appeal of commodities to investors, outweighed rising supply.
US crude production rose 3,000 barrels a day to 9.42 million in the seven days ended March 20, the Energy Information Administration said.
The smallest increase since January left output at the highest level in more than three decades. Prices retreated initially as the report showed that crude supplies increased 8.17 million barrels to 466.7 million last week, the most in records compiled since August 1982.
US oil explorers sidelined 41 drilling rigs last week, the smallest drop in three weeks and down from the average 59-rig weekly decline in February, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc.
The dollar dropped for the sixth time in eight days against the euro, bolstering raw materials denominated in the US currency.
US crude oil futures erased gains in New York trading, while Brent extended losses in London.
West Texas Intermediate for May delivery fell 8 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $47.37 a barrel at 9:50 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume was about 17 percent above the 100-day average for the time of day.
Private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners will invest up to $1billion in a strategic acquisition alliance with Linn Energy LLC.
A Letter of Intent (LOI) has been signed between the two companies which will see them find selected future oil and natural gas acquisitions and develop those acquired assets.
Linn Energy said it would participate with a working interest of 15-50%.
A day after their biggest gain in six weeks, US stock indexes mostly fell yesterday as oil continued to slide and investors fretted over when the Federal Reserve will raise a key borrowing rate.
Low rates have helped stocks soar over the past six years. The Fed kicked off a two-day meeting yesterday to discuss rates, and will release a policy statement today.
Losses were small, but spread across industries. Nine of the 10 sectors of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped, led by a 1.2% fall in raw-material companies.
Randall Warren, chief investment officer of Warren Financial Service, said he is not worried about higher rates, but is bracing for more price swings nonetheless.
The FTSE 100 Index has maintained its progress amid expectations that policymakers will continue efforts to support global growth.
London’s top flight slumped 2.5% last week but has recovered in the past two sessions on hopes that the US Federal Reserve will signal it is no hurry to increase interest rates.
US stocks bounced back yesterday after losing ground for three weeks as the dollar’s rally against the euro abated.
Elsewhere in financial markets, oil closed at a six-year low, below $44 a barrel, as supplies continue to outpace demand. Treasurys gained after some mixed reports on the economy.
The stock market has stumbled in recent weeks as the dollar has surged against the euro. The US currency has been rising on expectations that the Federal Reserve will start to raise interest rates even as the European Central Bank continues to provide stimulus to that region’s economy.
A stronger dollar is a problem for big US companies that rely on overseas sales because it makes their goods more expensive in foreign markets and reduces the value of the profits they bring back home to the US.
Dubai stocks declined to the weakest level since January as Brent crude extended its slide on speculation that record U.S. supply may start to strain the country’s storage capacity.
The DFM General Index retreated 1.4% to 3,563.95 at 12: 22 p.m. local time, the lowest since January 7. The index has decreased 3.9% in two days, dragging its 14-day relative strength index to 27, the weakest in three months, from 38 on Thursday.
A Level below 30 indicates to some analyst the equities have fallen too far.
