Sector movers: Oil stocks keep London market in positive territory

Oil and gas stocks kept the London market on a positive patch on Tuesday, as an oil workers’ strike in Brazil sent crude futures higher.

The FTSE 100 ended a mere 0.34% or 21.81 points higher at 6383.61, while the FTSE 250 was 0.13% or 21.55 points higher at 17188.95. Oil futures saw an uptick after an ongoing strike in Brazil, the world's ninth-largest crude producer, lent support to the price.

The industrial action at Brazil's state-run oil producer Petrobras, which began on Sunday, has slowed the country’s daily oil output of 2.95 million barrels per day by around 25%, according to local media, with some newswires reporting a reduction of as much as 400,000 to 500,000 bpd, as yet to be verified by the government.

At 1715 GMT, the Brent front-month futures contract for December delivery was up 2.23% or $1.09 at $49.88 per barrel. The WTI also rose, by 2.58% or $1.19, to $47.33 per barrel with both benchmarks reversing Monday’s losses.

Invariably oil and gas stocks responded in kind with blue chip BP (up 3.86%) among the biggest gainers on the FTSE 100. Midcaps Tullow Oil (up 17.57%), Premier Oil (up 14.17%), Weir Group (up 5.77%) and Cairn Energy (up 3.63%) led the FTSE 250 gainers roster in that order.

Mining majors Glencore (up 3.33%), Anglo American (up 3.23%) and BHP Billiton (up 3.17%) alongside midcap Evraz (up 5.29%) also shrugged off a lacklustre metals market to end higher.

Going the other way, housebuilders Barratt Developments (down 3.85%), Taylor Wimpey (down 5.30%) and Persimmon declined after Liberum cut its rating on the stocks to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’, saying valuations are “too optimistic to accommodate margin pressure”.

Finally, Standard Chartered slumped after posting a disappointing third quarter and launching a capital raise to strengthen the balance sheet and support its strategic review, providing a negative footnote to session proceedings.