London close: Stocks end slightly higher as traders clock off for Christmas

London stocks had very few drivers on a quiet day of trading after Wednesday’s rally, which was led by gains in the oil sector.

“Heading into the Christmas break with all the enthusiasm of someone who has received the ugliest jumper imaginable, the markets failed to capitalise on yesterday’s super surge as Xmas Eve’s trading continued,” said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.

Oil prices continued to be in focus on Thursday following the previous session's surge. Brent crude fell 0.34% to $37.23 per barrel at 1125 GMT, reversing an increase in morning trade. West Texas Intermediate, however, continued to climb with a 0.13% increase to $37.55 per barrel.

OPEC on Wednesday said it predicted that oil prices are set to recover, reaching $70 per barrel by 2020. The organisation also said it will cut its supply on rival production in the future.

Oil and gas stocks continued to be among the top risers on Thursday, including BP, BG Group, Ophir Energy, Nostrum Oil & Gas and Cairn Energy.

On the economic data front, the only release in the UK was a report from the British Bankers’ Association showing a 25% rise in UK mortgage approvals in November to 76,295 compared to a year ago.

Approvals were supported by a 20% jump in loans for house purchases to 44,960, although it missed analysts’ estimates of 46,000.

Net borrowing by companies fell by £0.3bn in November as increased borrowing by the construction, and wholesale and retail sectors was offset by falls in borrowing by the real estate, transport, electricity and manufacturing sectors.

"This will fuel concern that consumers are borrowing more and saving less to finance their spending, which is likely a consequence of relatively high consumer confidence and extended low interest rates," said Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight.

"This is something that the Bank of England needs to keep a close eye on, and it does appear that some MPC members are becoming more worried."

Looking ahead, the US will see the release of weekly jobless claims figures at 1330 GMT while Japan will see a batch of data overnight including inflation figures.

The UK market will reopen on Tuesday after a bank holiday for Boxing Day on Monday.

On the company front, Polymetal gained after saying it was entering a joint venture with Polyus Gold to develop the Nezhdaninskoye gold deposit in Yakutia, Russia.

Sirius Minerals advanced after signing a seven-year deal to supply Chinese import and export group Huaken International with polyhalite from its mine in North Yorkshire.

Segro climbed after it announced it had exchanged contracts to sell its large portfolio of offices on Bath Road in Slough for £325m.

Ted Baker continued to decline after receiving a downgrade from Jefferies to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ and had its target price cut to 3200p from 3400p.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,245.43 0.07%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,420.34 0.16%
techMARK (TASX) 3,212.52 -0.18%

FTSE 100 - Risers

BP (BP.) 365.35p 1.50%
Anglo American (AAL) 328.55p 1.25%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,349.00p 1.20%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 452.30p 1.12%
Intu Properties (INTU) 323.00p 1.09%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 589.10p 1.05%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 602.00p 1.00%
3i Group (III) 480.10p 0.95%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 270.50p 0.93%
Old Mutual (OML) 180.70p 0.89%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BT Group (BT.A) 467.20p -1.56%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,628.00p -1.17%
Tesco (TSCO) 151.50p -1.08%
Glencore (GLEN) 92.03p -0.96%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,994.50p -0.87%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,033.00p -0.86%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 197.30p -0.85%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 290.20p -0.82%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,520.50p -0.78%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,717.00p -0.73%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ophir Energy (OPHR) 98.40p 5.69%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 185.50p 4.42%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 159.00p 4.11%
AO World (AO.) 163.60p 3.48%
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 682.50p 2.94%
Polymetal International (POLY) 579.50p 2.93%
Evraz (EVR) 76.40p 2.92%
Regus (RGU) 330.50p 2.29%
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,073.00p 2.17%
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) 944.00p 1.89%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 339.10p -3.80%
Ted Baker (TED) 3,025.00p -2.61%
Riverstone Energy Limited (RSE) 760.00p -2.44%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 352.20p -2.17%
Genus (GNS) 1,539.00p -2.11%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 955.00p -2.05%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,816.00p -2.05%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 234.10p -1.52%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 289.10p -1.50%
Serco Group (SRP) 100.40p -1.48%