(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Thursday amid a raft of corporate releases, with oil majors BP and Shell among the top performers after the US imposed fresh sanctions on Russian oil firms Rosneft and Lukoil as it looks to ramp up pressure on Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.
At 0840 BST, FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 9,544.34.
Donald Trump said that while he continued to have "good conversations" with Vladimir Putin, "they don't go anywhere".
Speaking following a meeting with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, the US president told reporters: "These are tremendous sanctions.
"They're big, these are against their two big oil companies and we hope they won't be on for long. We hope that the war will be settled."
These are the first direct sanctions imposed on Russian companies by the current Trump administration.
Steve Clayton, head of equity funds at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Oil markets have spiked higher after news emerged that the US was putting Russia's major oil producers, Rosneft and Lukoil, under sanctions due to the Kremlin's failure to move toward peace in Ukraine.
"Brent crude has climbed 4% to almost $65 per barrel on the news, marking a dramatic recovery from recent weakness in crude markets. America's new stance is in stark contrast to recent messaging from the White House and took markets by surprise. The effectiveness of the sanctions is yet to be proven, but President Trump has said that the Indian PM Narendra Modi has assured him that India will cease Russian oil purchases."
Meanwhile, the trade spat between the US and China rumbled on amid reports the US was considering curbs on sales to China of goods made with US software .
Clayton said: "Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary has said 'everything is on the table' and expected that controls over critical software sales would be a co-ordinated effort by G7 nations.
"The move marks the latest escalation in the rare earths dispute, with the US and its allies looking to apply pressure upon China in the hope of reversing the export controls that China recently announced on sales of these critical minerals."
In equity markets, BP and Shell were among the top gainers amid rising oil prices, while Harbour Energy, Ithaca Energy and Energean also rose.
Rentokil was the standout performer, however, as it said it was confident of meeting full-year market expectations after an encouraging third-quarter performance.
In the period from 1 July to 30 September, group revenue came in at $1.81bn, up 4.6% on the same period a year ago. Organic revenue growth was 3.4%, it said. Revenue in North America was up 4.6% to $1.14bn, with organic revenue growth of 3.4%.
LSEG was also sharply higher on the back of strong quarterly results and news it will sell a 20% stake in its clearing unit, Post Trade Solutions, to a group of banks, in a deal that values the business at £850m.
On the downside, Lloyds Banking Group nudged lower as it reported a 36% fall in third-quarter profit after taking an extra £800m hit from the motor finance scandal.
Pre-tax profit for the three months to 30 September came in at £1.17bn. Lloyds said its "best estimate" of its potential liability over the mis-selling of financing would be almost £2bn. Underlying net interest income rose 7% to £3.4bn.
Consumer goods giant Unilever was also a touch weaker even as it reiterated its full-year outlook despite "subdued" market conditions. Updating on third-quarter trading, the blue chip said turnover rose 3.9% on an underlying basis, to 14.7bn, or by 4% once the soon-to-be-demerged ice cream business is stripped out.
Driving the increase was strong growth for Unilever's biggest products - known as its power brands - which saw underlying sales rise 4.4% in the three months, with volume growth ahead 1.7% and prices 2.6%.
St James's Place and Schroders both lost ground after third-quarter updates, while Chilean copper miner Antofagasta fell after a Q3 production report.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,544.34 0.31%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,269.64 0.18%
techMARK (TASX) 5,586.26 -0.05%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 450.20p 10.53%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 9,312.00p 6.79%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,303.00p 4.91%
BP (BP.) 434.70p 3.16%
Shell (SHEL) 2,825.00p 2.32%
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,116.00p 1.73%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,207.00p 1.68%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 634.20p 1.44%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,025.00p 1.31%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,114.50p 1.09%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
St James's Place (STJ) 1,298.00p -4.07%
Schroders (SDR) 368.20p -2.85%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,300.00p -2.39%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,157.00p -1.56%
easyJet (EZJ) 485.90p -1.50%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,599.00p -1.48%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 8,754.00p -1.37%
Compass Group (CPG) 2,591.00p -1.18%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 3,436.00p -1.09%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,803.00p -1.06%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Harbour Energy (HBR) 210.00p 3.14%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 197.50p 3.08%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,136.00p 2.82%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 252.20p 2.69%
Energean (ENOG) 933.50p 2.19%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 974.00p 2.15%
Chemring Group (CHG) 584.00p 2.10%
Premier Foods (PFD) 191.20p 2.03%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 64.50p 1.65%
Anglo-Eastern Plantations (AEP) 1,300.00p 1.56%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Supermarket Income Reit (SUPR) 79.70p -2.57%
WH Smith (SMWH) 666.50p -2.27%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,635.00p -2.15%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 137.60p -2.13%
Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited (SEQI) 78.00p -2.01%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,109.00p -1.86%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 203.50p -1.69%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 92.00p -1.66%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 1,162.00p -1.53%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 649.50p -1.52%
57.05 (0.60%)
334.33
0.00