FTSE 100 edges up as oil rebound pushes Shell shares to record high

European markets have got off to a strong start this week with London’s top index helped by a strong session for miners and energy stocks.

The FTSE 100 moved higher as energy giant Shell’s share price gained about 1.5% on Monday to reach a record high.

The blue-chip index gained 31.03 points, or 0.41%, to close at 7,630.63.

It comes amid rising oil and gas prices, fuelled by uncertainty in the market following the escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Analysts pointed out that if tensions spill over into other parts of the Middle East, then it could affect the global supply of commodities.

Michael Hewson, the chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: “European markets have started the week cautiously higher in the absence of an escalation of tensions over the weekend, although you can be sure that investors will be keeping a wary eye on events in the Middle East as Israel weighs its next move.

“The FTSE 100 is edging higher helped by resilience in basic resources and energy with Shell seeing its share price hit a new record high.

“This move would appear to justify the recent decision by new chief executive Wael Sawan to refocus new capital expenditure on the company’s key revenue earners of oil and gas, which while slightly weaker today is probably likely to remain well supported while the Middle East tensions remain.”

Elsewhere in Europe, investors were in relatively positive spirits. Germany’s Dax gained 0.34% and France’s Cac 40 closed 0.27% higher.

Over in the US, trading got off to a strong start as last week’s worries over the higher-than-expected inflation reading propping up interest rates faded.

Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones were up by 1% by the time European markets closed.

The pound gained solid ground on Monday, moving 0.5% higher against the dollar to 1.2195, and up 0.1% against the euro to 1.1565.

The price of Brent Crude oil slipped on Monday by 0.65% but remained just above 90 US dollars per barrel.

In company news, shares in Hipgnosis Songs Fund tumbled by more than a fifth during the day after scrapping its shareholder dividend payout and lowering its expected earnings from US royalties.

The company, which owns the rights to back catalogues by artists including Justin Bieber and Shakira, more than halved its expected earnings from royalty payments for music streamed between 2018 and 2022.

Shares in the London-listed company closed 9.3% lower.

Meanwhile, shares in Boohoo edged up after Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group further upped its stake in the fashion firm less than two weeks after becoming its biggest single shareholder.

The group increased its shareholding to 15.1% from 13.4% despite the retailer seeing big falls in its share price in recent months as sales have suffered. Boohoo’s share price gained 2.8% on Monday.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were St James’s Place, up 32p to 672.2p, Next, up 236p to 7,090p, Hargreaves Lansdown, up 22p to 761.8p, Rio Tinto, up 144p to 5,217p, and Severn Trent, up 69p to 2,516p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Ocado, down 30.8p to 500p, Intertek, down 66p to 4,135p, Airtel Africa, down 1.7p to 116.5p, GSK, down 16.8p to 1,493.2p, and Experian, down 25p to 2,751p.