LONDON (ShareCast) - Oil prices back above $126 a barrel today had buyers flocking back to the sector, with BP, Tullow Oil, Cairn Energy and Shell all featuring among the top 10 risers.
BG got an extra lift from broker Credit Suisse who has the shares as “outperform” with price target raised to 1,600p. JP Morgan chipped in with “overweight” advice”.
US light crude for September delivery is currently up 74 cents at $126.23 a barrel, having fallen back from recent highs near $148 over the past few weeks.
Johnson Matthey is also in demand after Morgan Stanley upped the speciality chemicals company to “equal-weight” from “underweight” following its first quarter trading update earlier this week.
Insurance plays suffered damage though following a profit warning from German insurance giant Munich Re. UK peers Legal & General, Aviva, RSA and Standard Life are all in the dog house.
Citigroup’s decision to drop its price target on Standard Chartered to 1,525p from 1,800p sent the Far East focused bank deep in to the red.
High street food and fashion retailer Marks & Spencer also looked like ending the week on a downer as investors continued to mull yesterday’s record 3.9% monthly drop in UK retail sales.
FTSE 100 - Risers
BG Group (BG.) 1,110.00p +3.93%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 741.50p +2.28%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 2,674.00p +2.18%
BP (BP.) 521.75p +1.80%
John Wood Group (WG.) 404.00p +1.70%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,708.00p +1.49%
Drax Group (DRX) 719.50p +1.48%
Xstrata (XTA) 3,260.00p +1.40%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,814.00p +1.34%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,839.00p +1.16%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 98.20p -7.10%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 796.00p -6.24%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 127.10p -6.06%
Aviva (AV.) 483.00p -5.57%
Schroders (SDR) 959.50p -5.47%
Schroders NV (SDRC) 868.00p -5.40%
Hammerson (HMSO) 923.00p -4.99%
Standard Life (SL.) 218.00p -4.39%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,527.00p -4.38%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 248.25p -4.34%
-49.00p ()
Update - 
