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BP powers FTSE midday rally
19 July 2010
Published by IFAOnline BP is driving a midday rally in London shares after the oil giant’s attempts to stop the oil leak proved successful, although banking stocks continue to slide. Shortly after midday, the FTSE was up 55 points, or 1.07%, to 5,267. The beleaguered oil giant led the upward charge after announcing it had choked off the flow of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. It advanced 5% at one stage but, by midday, had pulled back slightly to 3.6%. Miners are also in favour, with Eurasian Natural Resources and Rio Tinto both making steady gains. Luxury fashion retailer Burberry is up almost 3% following its decision to take control of its franchised Chinese stores. But heavyweight banking stocks - which have made steady gains this week - are down following disappointing results posted by JPMorgan's investment arm. The bank posted a 76% increase in Q2 earnings - with net income coming in at $4.8bn - but analysts say the figures are skewed because it took about $1.5bn out of reserves and put it into earnings. Barclays and Lloyds are both down more than 1%. Investors, meanwhile, await the Q2 results of Bank of America and Citigroup. Positive sentiment in the UK was felt throughout Europe, with Germany's Dax up 0.85% and France's Cac 40 up 0.8%. The euro, meanwhile, has risen against the dollar, up 0.28% to $1.29, as concerns mount over the strength of the US recovery.
