FTSE 100 reaches record high thanks to oil stocks and positive earnings

The London FTSE 100 reached a record intraday high on Thursday, boosted by oil stocks and positive earnings from blue-chip companies such as LSEG Rentokil.

The index, which is heavily influenced by commodities, rose up to 0.7% and reached a new record of 9,579.07 point. By 1200 GMT, it was up 0.6%.

Shell and BP each gained 3% as crude prices jumped over 5% following the U.S. imposing sanctions on Rosneft, Lukoil and other major Russian suppliers because of the Ukraine conflict.

The London Stock Exchange Group's earnings jumped 6.7%, after the exchange operator announced it would sell 20 percent of its post-trade business. It also announced a surprise buyback of 1 billion pounds ($1.34 billion), and reported better than expected third-quarter results.

Rentokil's shares jumped by 11.8% following the pest control company's announcement of a higher-than-expected quarterly increase in organic revenue.

The UK equity market has been supported this week by a largely positive earnings season, a jump in commodity shares and signs of cooling of inflation which supported bets of an interest rate cut from the Bank of England. The FTSE 100 looks set to have its best performance since mid-April.

The FTSE Midcap Index of domestically oriented shares rose by 0.1% and traded at a four-year high.

The index of UK precious-metal miners rose 4.5% in line with gold prices as U.S. Sanctions against Russia and the possibility of new export controls to China increased geopolitical fears, boosting demand for safe haven assets.

InterContinental Hotels, the owner of Holiday Inn, saw its shares fall 1.2% despite an increase in a key revenue measure as the growth in US markets slowed.

St James's Place fell 4% after the fund manager predicted weaker flows in the fourth quarter.

Renishaw dropped 6% from the top of the FTSE 250 after it reported weak sales for the quarter. (Reporting by Avinash P in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

(source: Reuters)