London’s FTSE 100 was up 1.2% at 7,417.72 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Oil giants Shell and BP were among the gainers as oil price surged above $110 a barrel.
Persimmon was also a high riser after the housebuilder said it remained confident for the current year despite rising interest rates, after strong demand boosted annual sales.
On the downside, Russian steelmaker Evraz was under the cosh again.
Royal Mail was knocked lower after Liberum downgraded its stance on the shares to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ and cut the price target to 355p from 470p as it pointed to a margin squeeze risk from pay inflation ahead of the company’s pay negotiations with trade union CWU.
The broker noted that the CWU has recently submitted its pay claim for the coming year. While the figure requested was not disclosed, the union is looking for an unconditional pay rise to match inflation, Liberum, said.
“With retail price inflation currently at 7.8%, we see a risk of a margin squeeze for the group if a pay deal is agreed anywhere close to that level,” it said.
Coca-Cola HBC was also in the red, with traders pointing to its significant exposure to Russia.
Primark owner Associated British Foods was weaker after a downgrade to ‘hold’ at Societe Generale.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,548.00p 5.64%
Rightmove (RMV) 700.00p 5.26%
Shell (SHEL) 2,045.75p 4.86%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,537.50p 4.73%
BP (BP.) 373.75p 4.66%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,422.00p 4.31%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,034.00p 4.16%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 138.55p 3.86%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 4,222.00p 3.68%
Prudential (PRU) 1,101.50p 3.62%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Evraz (EVR) 74.20p -27.86%
Royal Mail (RMG) 362.40p -6.55%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,661.00p -6.29%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,727.50p -3.95%
BAE Systems (BA.) 723.00p -3.11%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 9,200.00p -2.71%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,144.00p -2.65%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,831.00p -2.55%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,056.50p -2.54%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 259.90p -2.44%
