London midday: Stocks gain as oil prices rise

London stocks were on the front foot on Friday as oil prices regained strength and investors shrugged off disappointing UK economic data.

Shares in oil producers, including BP and Royal Dutch Shell, rallied as crude prices gained. At 1127 BST, Brent jumped 3.09% to $40.69 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate increased 3.3% to $38.56 per barrel.

Adding to positive sentiment in the market, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the US was headed for more economic growth.

Speaking at a panel before former Fed Chairs Ben Bernanke, Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan at the International House in New York on Thursday, Yellen touted the strength of the labour market and rebuffed suggestions that an economic bubble is about to burst.

"I certainly wouldn't describe this as a bubble economy," Yellen said, responding to Republican presidential contender Donald Trump's claims.

On home soil, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Britain's trade deficit in goods narrowed in February to £12bn after January's reading was revised sharply higher to £12.2bn. However, February's reading was higher than economists' forecasts for it to narrow to £10.2bn.

Meanwhile, UK industrial production unexpectedly declined in February by 0.3% month-on-month following a revised 0.2% increase in January, the ONS revealed.

“February’s trade and industrial production figures add to the evidence that the economy has made an uninspiring start to the year and suggest that growth remains heavily unbalanced,” according to Capital Economics.

Manufacturing production dropped 1.1% in February, more than the 0.2% dip expected by analysts and following a revised 0.5% rise in January.

“Chancellor George Osborne will have been expecting a slight drop in today’s manufacturing production figures, especially amid the furore of steel giant Tata signaling their intention to close their Port Talbot plant, but the severity of the fall will have been surprising,” said Dennis de Jong, managing director at UFX.com.

“A wealth of cheap steel on the market has seen global prices plummet and, without raising import tariffs or government intervention, many believe the British steel industry will be forced to shutter completely."

He added that uncertainty surrounding the 23 June Brexit referendum “may cause orders to dry up until the votes are counted”.

Still to come are the NIESR’s UK gross domestic product estimate and US wholesale inventories data, both at 1500 BST.

In company news, Marks &Spencer gained as Canaccord Genuity upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘speculative buy’ and raised its target price to 475p from 460p following the retailer’s fourth quarter trading update.

Tullow Oil declined as it said there has been damage to the turret bearing on a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit at its Jubilee field in Ghana. However, the company does not expect this to have any significant impact on revenue.

Experian was under the cosh after HSBC downgraded the stock to ‘reduce’ from ‘buy’ and cut the target price to 1,140p from 1,290p.

Market Movers

techMARK 3,157.68 +0.37%

FTSE 100 6,176.59 +0.65%

FTSE 250 16,831.68 +0.70%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Hammerson (HMSO) 589.50p +2.34%

Legal & General Group (LGEN) 232.80p +2.33%

BP (BP.) 346.65p +2.17%

Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,701.00p +2.07%

Prudential (PRU) 1,307.00p +2.03%

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 441.20p +1.89%

3i Group (III) 451.40p +1.83%

Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,706.50p +1.82%

Standard Life (SL.) 340.80p +1.82%

Intu Properties (INTU) 315.10p +1.68%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Experian (EXPN) 1,234.00p -1.67%

Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,510.00p -0.99%

Schroders (SDR) 2,504.00p -0.79%

Kingfisher (KGF) 377.40p -0.61%

Diageo (DGE) 1,901.50p -0.45%

WPP (WPP) 1,640.00p -0.42%

National Grid (NG.) 994.70p -0.35%

SABMiller (SAB) 4,212.50p -0.33%

Shire Plc (SHP) 4,279.00p -0.33%

Unilever (ULVR) 3,230.50p -0.32%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Vectura Group (VEC) 169.90p +4.36%

Evraz (EVR) 94.50p +4.36%

Weir Group (WEIR) 1,035.00p +4.33%

AA (AA.) 276.00p +4.27%

Acacia Mining (ACA) 284.90p +3.98%

Card Factory (CARD) 358.20p +3.77%

Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 151.10p +3.64%

Ashmore Group (ASHM) 286.00p +2.99%

Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 302.00p +2.79%

Ocado Group (OCDO) 343.90p +2.75%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Elementis (ELM) 219.40p -8.05%

DFS Furniture (DFS) 302.80p -5.64%

Supergroup (SGP) 1,359.00p -4.30%

Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 142.10p -3.20%

Tullow Oil (TLW) 188.50p -2.53%

WH Smith (SMWH) 1,834.00p -2.34%

Victrex plc (VCT) 1,541.00p -1.41%

OneSavings Bank (OSB) 304.20p -1.30%

Tate & Lyle (TATE) 591.00p -1.00%

Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 354.30p -0.95%

FTSE TechMARK - Risers

Torotrak (TRK) 5.00p +3.09%

Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 652.00p +1.64%

Skyepharma (SKP) 446.75p +1.30%

Electronic Data Processing (EDP) 66.50p +0.76%

IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 210.75 +0.07%

FTSE TechMARK - Fallers

UCW Limited (UCW) A$0.05 -8.62%

Sepura (SEPU) 125.00p -5.48%

Consort Medical (CSRT) 1,030.00p -0.58%

BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 16.56p -0.38%

Spirent Communications (SPT) 86.50p -0.29%

SDL (SDL) 393.00p -0.25%

KCOM Group (KCOM) 106.25p -0.23%