FTSE 100 movers: Shell and BP pace gains as Brent surges 24%

US President Donald Trump triggered a sharp rally in crude oil futures on Thursday after doubling-down on his optimism regarding a detente between Russia and Saudi in their oil price war.

In remarks posted to his personal account on Twitter, America's commander-in-chief said: "just spoke to my friend MBS (Crown Prince) of Saudi Arabia, who spoke with President Putin of Russia, & I expect & hope that they will be cutting back approximately 10 Million Barrels, and maybe substantially more which, if it happens, will be GREAT for the oil & gas industry!"

The day before he had expressed confidence that a deal between the two oil powers was possible, but some market observers expressed skepticism that he would be proved right.

As of 1559 GMT, the Footsie was 1.29% higher to 5,524.68, with stock in Shell and BP pacing the advance on the back of a 25% surge in June-dated Brent oil to $32.82 a barrel on the ICE.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals was also higher in the background, lifted by an upgrade out of JP Morgan from 'underweight' to

'overweight'.

On Tuesday, the US District Court for the District of Nevada ruled that Hikma’s generic version of rival Amarin’s drug Vascepa did not infringe six patents, as Amarin had claimed, and JP Morgan argued that the ruling offered “significant upside”.

The broker raised its target price for Hikma by around 20% to £24.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,505.91 0.94%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,498.80p 10.83%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,566.20p 10.20%
M&G (MNG) 118.30p 8.53%
BP (BP.) 357.80p 7.22%
Glencore (GLEN) 126.20p 5.91%
WPP (WPP) 521.20p 5.66%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,163.00p 5.10%
Aviva (AV.) 253.20p 4.84%
DCC (DCC) 4,983.00p 4.64%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 380.90p 4.24%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Carnival (CCL) 626.60p -19.56%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 274.80p -9.90%
Centrica (CNA) 34.24p -7.73%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 195.35p -6.75%
Informa (INF) 381.30p -6.75%
SSE (SSE) 1,140.50p -5.98%
Meggitt (MGGT) 231.40p -5.78%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 6,688.00p -5.40%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,226.00p -5.03%
easyJet (EZJ) 500.80p -4.72%