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 Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) last week recorded an increase in the number of shareholders to the highest in almost eight months, despite its share price falling 3.38 percent from the previous week, Taiwan Stock Exchange data released on Saturday showed. As of Friday, TSMC had 1.88 million shareholders, the most since the week of April 25 and an increase of 31,870 from the previous week, the data showed. The number of shareholders jumped despite a drop of NT$50 (US$1.59), or 3.38 percent, in TSMC’s share price from a week earlier to NT$1,430, as investors took profits from their earlier gains
AI TALENT: No financial details were released about the deal, in which top Groq executives, including its CEO, would join Nvidia to help advance the technology Nvidia Corp has agreed to a licensing deal with artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Groq, furthering its investments in companies connected to the AI boom and gaining the right to add a new type of technology to its products. The world’s largest publicly traded company has paid for the right to use Groq’s technology and is to integrate its chip design into future products. Some of the start-up’s executives are leaving to join Nvidia to help with that effort, the companies said. Groq would continue as an independent company with a new chief executive, it said on Wednesday in a post on its Web
CHINA RIVAL: The chips are positioned to compete with Nvidia’s Hopper and Blackwell products and would enable clusters connecting more than 100,000 chips Moore Threads Technology Co (摩爾線程) introduced a new generation of chips aimed at reducing artificial intelligence (AI) developers’ dependence on Nvidia Corp’s hardware, just weeks after pulling off one of the most successful Chinese initial public offerings (IPOs) in years. “These products will significantly enhance world-class computing speed and capabilities that all developers aspire to,” Moore Threads CEO Zhang Jianzhong (張建中), a former Nvidia executive, said on Saturday at a company event in Beijing. “We hope they can meet the needs of more developers in China so that you no longer need to wait for advanced foreign products.” Chinese chipmakers are in
POLICY REVERSAL: The decision to allow sales of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China came after years of tightening controls and has drawn objections among some Republicans US House Republicans are calling for arms-sale-style congressional oversight of artificial intelligence (AI) chip exports as US President Donald Trump’s administration moves to approve licenses for Nvidia Corp to ship its H200 processor to China. US Representative Brian Mast, the Republican chairman of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which oversees export controls, on Friday introduced a bill dubbed the AI Overwatch Act that would require the US Congress to be notified of AI chips sales to adversaries. Any processors equal to or higher in capabilities than Nvidia’s H20 would be subject to oversight, the draft bill says. Lawmakers would have
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