London close: Stable oil prices and upbeat retail news buoys Santa rally

The FTSE 100 Index closed 79.27 points ahead at 6545.27, its fourth session of gains in a row.

Oil heavyweights rose as the price of Brent and US crude recovered from earlier falls to stand 1.7% and 2.9% up respectively just before the close in London.

BP gushed 10.45p to 413p, Tullow Oil spurted 27.2p to 424.2p, BG Group lifted 25.5p to 901.3p and Royal Dutch Shell ‘A’ stock advanced 65p to 2170p.

Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets said there were multiple reasons for investors to be hopeful for 2015.

“Inflation looks like it will stay subdued and keep a lid on interest rates, while falling oil prices put money into consumers’ pockets to drive demand in the global economy,” he said.

The market rose despite mixed UK economic news. UK public sector borrowing fell between April and November. But economists said Chancellor George Osborne still faced an uphill task to meet his upwardly revised fiscal target for 2014/15.
UK consumer confidence hit its lowest level since March this month, according to research group GfK.

But British retail sales reached a 27-year high in December, driven by Black Friday's shopping frenzy, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said.

The upbeat retail figures helped to lift supermarkets, with Morrisons increasing 6.2p to 176.2p, Tesco ringing up 9.6p to 185.4p and Sainsbury’s gaining 4.8p to 239.8p.

BA and Iberia owner IAG flew 5.5p higher to 469p after Aer Lingus rejected its takeover approach late on Thursday. Aer Lingus shares descended €0.02 to €1.96.

Power generator and retailer SSE dipped 24p to 1624p after it fell short of its target in winning generation business in a UK energy capacity auction.

Support services group Serco fell 12.8p to 153p despite saying City of London police had failed to find any evidence to justify charging it in relation to suspected wrongdoing in a government contract to transport prisoners.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,936.81 +0.35%
FTSE 100 6,545.27 +1.23%
FTSE 250 15,888.91 +0.99%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Tullow Oil (TLW) 424.20p +6.85%
Tesco (TSCO) 185.40p +5.46%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,431.00p +4.41%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 176.20p +3.65%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,377.50p +3.57%
Fresnillo (FRES) 739.00p +3.28%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 744.50p +3.12%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,170.00p +3.09%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 461.60p +3.01%
Aviva (AV.) 495.00p +3.00%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
TUI AG Reg Shs (Post- 16/12/14)(DI) (TUIJ) 1,073.00p -3.25%
SSE (SSE) 1,624.00p -1.46%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,072.00p -1.29%
Sky (SKY) 889.00p -1.22%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,629.00p -1.13%
Capita (CPI) 1,076.00p -1.01%
Next (NXT) 6,495.00p -0.99%
Old Mutual (OML) 188.30p -0.84%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,309.00p -0.83%
Pearson (PSON) 1,181.00p -0.76%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Afren (AFR) 47.57p +15.24%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 58.20p +13.67%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 420.00p +10.53%
IP Group (IPO) 227.90p +9.36%
Soco International (SIA) 308.70p +8.13%
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 118.00p +7.76%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 210.10p +7.74%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 247.20p +6.87%
Bodycote (BOY) 641.50p +6.56%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,765.00p +6.07%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Serco Group (SRP) 153.00p -7.72%
Polymetal International (POLY) 550.00p -6.46%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,889.00p -4.93%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 275.80p -2.72%
Beazley (BEZ) 275.20p -2.38%
International Public Partnerships Ltd. (INPP) 132.50p -2.21%
Keller Group (KLR) 837.50p -2.10%
Stock Spirits Group (STCK) 232.70p -2.02%
Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 49.04p -1.92%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 183.90p -1.71%

FTSE TechMARK - Risers
Triad Group (TRD) 16.50p +4.76%
Puricore (PURI) 32.50p +3.59%
Innovation Group (TIG) 30.25p +3.42%
RM (RM.) 157.00p +3.29%
BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 16.25p +2.36%
Filtronic (FTC) 27.00p +1.89%
Anite (AIE) 80.25p +1.58%
NCC Group (NCC) 194.00p +0.52%
Consort Medical (CSRT) 835.00p +0.24%
Skyepharma (SKP) 322.25p +0.23%

FTSE TechMARK - Fallers
Promethean World (PRW) 21.75p -5.95%
Kofax Limited (DI) (KFX) 418.00p -4.29%
Torotrak (TRK) 15.38p -1.60%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,375.00p -0.65%
KCOM Group (KCOM) 88.75p -0.28%
Vectura Group (VEC) 128.00p -0.19%
E2V Technologies (E2V) 169.75p -0.15%