UK energy stocks, including BP Plc and Shell Transport & Trading Co, climbed after oil reached a new high as worsening violence in Iraq threatened to disrupt supplies.
WPP Group Plc, the world's second-largest advertising and marketing company, declined after saying "concerns remain" about economic growth in the US next year.
The benchmark FTSE 100 added 6.60, or 0.2 percent, to 4,369.20 in London. The index rose 1.6 percent since last Friday, and posted its first weekly gain in three. The FTSE All-Share Index rose 2.83, or 0.1 percent, to 2,169.76.
"What's there not to like about oil stocks?" asked Richard Lewis, who oversees US$1 billion in European stocks at New Star Asset Management. "We like oil stocks. There are earnings upgrades coming through."
Crude-oil futures surpassed US$49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, on concern that fighting between US forces and followers of Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr will cut shipments.
BP, Europe's biggest oil company, advanced 2.5 pence, or 0.5 percent, to 489.5
Shell, which owns 40 percent of Royal Dutch/Shell, added 5 pence, or 1.3 percent, to 401. It also benefited from a broker upgrade after Merrill Lynch & Co advised investors to buy the stock, citing the possibility of future asset sales and planned investments.
WPP, dropped 6.5 pence, or 1.3 percent, to 488 after Chief Executive Officer Martin Sorrell said "concerns remain" about prospects for the US economy after November's presidential elections. WPP got about 40 percent of its revenue from the US last year.
"WPP's outlook on consumer spending for 2005 is a bit disappointing," said Grahame Exton, part of a team managing the equivalent of about US$921 million at Tilney Investment Management in Liverpool, England.
The company earlier said first-half profit rose 11 percent, boosted by demand in the US and Asia.
"There's a hint of caution when you trawl through WPP's earnings statement," said Exton.
The following stocks made significant gains or losses in London. Symbols are in parentheses after the company name.
British Airways Plc, Europe's second-largest airline, slipped 1.5 pence, or 0.7 percent, to 212.25. The airline today resumed pay talks with unions as the carrier tries to avert strikes by 11,000 baggage handlers and check-in staff next week.
CMS WebView Plc, a real-time financial information provider, jumped 0.75 pence, or 12 percent, to 7. The company said the Chicago Board of Trade, the world's biggest market for Treasury futures, will extend a data agreement.
The Chicago exchange will use CMS's TDI software to distribute market data from the Kansas City Board of Trade and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, the company said.
FirstGroup Plc, the UK's second-largest bus and train company, added 2.5 pence, or 0.9 percent, to 297.25 after it signed a seven-year contract to run the Scottish Passenger Rail franchise.
Taiwan’s rapidly aging population is fueling a sharp increase in homes occupied solely by elderly people, a trend that is reshaping the nation’s housing market and social fabric, real-estate brokers said yesterday. About 850,000 residences were occupied by elderly people in the first quarter, including 655,000 that housed only one resident, the Ministry of the Interior said. The figures have nearly doubled from a decade earlier, Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) said, as people aged 65 and older now make up 20.8 percent of the population. “The so-called silver tsunami represents more than just a demographic shift — it could fundamentally redefine the
The US government on Wednesday sanctioned more than two dozen companies in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, including offshoots of a US chip firm, accusing the businesses of providing illicit support to Iran’s military or proxies. The US Department of Commerce included two subsidiaries of US-based chip distributor Arrow Electronics Inc (艾睿電子) on its so-called entity list published on the federal register for facilitating purchases by Iran’s proxies of US tech. Arrow spokesman John Hourigan said that the subsidiaries have been operating in full compliance with US export control regulations and his company is discussing with the US Bureau of
Businesses across the global semiconductor supply chain are bracing themselves for disruptions from an escalating trade war, after China imposed curbs on rare earth mineral exports and the US responded with additional tariffs and restrictions on software sales to the Asian nation. China’s restrictions, the most targeted move yet to limit supplies of rare earth materials, represent the first major attempt by Beijing to exercise long-arm jurisdiction over foreign companies to target the semiconductor industry, threatening to stall the chips powering the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. They prompted US President Donald Trump on Friday to announce that he would impose an additional
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) said it expects peak season effects in the fourth quarter to continue to boost demand for passenger flights and cargo services, after reporting its second-highest-ever September sales on Monday. The carrier said it posted NT$15.88 billion (US$517 million) in consolidated sales last month, trailing only September last year’s NT$16.01 billion. Last month, CAL generated NT$8.77 billion from its passenger flights and NT$5.37 billion from cargo services, it said. In the first nine months of this year, the carrier posted NT$154.93 billion in cumulative sales, up 2.62 percent from a year earlier, marking the second-highest level for the January-September
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