London close: FTSE ends higher as oil prices rebound
The FTSE 100 ended higher on Wednesday as oil prices rebounded and investors dusted off disappointing UK labour market data.
London's top tier index reversed earlier falls as oil prices regained strength after declines throughout most of the session.
The late rise in oil prices came as US government data showed weekly crude inventories rose less than expected. Crude inventories increased by 2.1m barrels to 538.6m last week, compared to analysts’ forecasts for a 2.4m gain.
Brent crude rose 0.43% to $44.22 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate climbed 0.07% to $42.50 per barrel at 1631 BST.
Meanwhile, UK unemployment rose for the first time since mid-2015 in the three months to February according to the Office for National Statistics. The number of people in unemployment increased by 21,000 to 1.7m during the period. Yet the unemployment rate remained at 5.1%, as expected by analysts, its lowest since November 2005.
The report also showed the number of people in employment climbed by 20,000 to 31.41m, well below estimates for a 60,000 increase.
Average weekly earnings grew 1.8%, missing forecasts for a 2.3% increase and marking a slowdown from the previous quarter’s 2.1% gain.
"Last week the Bank of England said that concerns about the EU referendum had begun to affect the real economy, and the increase in unemployment announced today adds some weight to that hypothesis," said Ben Brettell, senior economist at Hargreaves Lansdown.
"It’s possible businesses are delaying decisions about hiring and investment until after June’s vote, which could lead to a slowdown in the first two quarters of this year."
In US data, the National Association of Realtor revealed sales of existing homes rose 5.1% in March to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.33m from a downwardly-revised 5.07m the previous month.
The reading came in a touch higher than the 5.30m economists had been expecting.
In company news, shares in BHP Billiton gained after saying it was on track to deliver an average unit cost improvement of 14% across its major assets, with productivity gains continuing to be realised.
Fellow miners Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Fresnillo were also in the black as metal prices rose.
Burberry was sitting lower after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’ in a report released to investors.
BT Group slumped after Jefferies downgraded it to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ and cut the price target to 475p from 515p, pointing to impaired visibility.
N Brown declined as Peel Hunt downgraded it to 'reduce' after the specialist fit clothing retailer ran into challenging conditions in the new financial year.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,420.22 0.23%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,022.98 -0.12%
techMARK (TASX) 3,163.33 -0.83%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 792.00p 5.33%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,423.50p 3.86%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 997.00p 3.58%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,096.00p 3.20%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 559.00p 3.16%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 249.50p 2.84%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,890.00p 2.50%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 465.40p 2.50%
GKN (GKN) 302.90p 2.43%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,302.00p 2.23%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,925.00p -4.13%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,319.00p -4.07%
BT Group (BT.A) 438.25p -2.85%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,342.00p -2.08%
ITV (ITV) 233.50p -2.06%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 984.50p -2.04%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 451.60p -2.02%
Informa (INF) 684.50p -2.00%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,170.00p -1.93%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,026.00p -1.91%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Allied Minds (ALM) 409.20p 8.17%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 428.00p 6.47%
IP Group (IPO) 172.90p 5.43%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 235.40p 5.09%
Genus (GNS) 1,549.00p 4.17%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,270.00p 4.10%
Essentra (ESNT) 887.50p 3.56%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,143.00p 3.25%
JRP Group (JRP) 140.00p 3.17%
Evraz (EVR) 148.30p 2.99%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 275.00p -12.86%
John Laing Group (JLG) 217.20p -4.57%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,540.00p -4.53%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,374.00p -3.77%
Pendragon (PDG) 35.25p -3.56%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 900.00p -3.43%
Diploma (DPLM) 729.50p -3.38%
Softcat (SCT) 318.50p -3.19%
NMC Health (NMC) 1,101.00p -3.00%
Cranswick (CWK) 2,287.00p -2.97%