A rebound in gold prices, a sharp rise in oil prices and a string of bullish corporate updates pushed the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 to yet another fresh record on Thursday.
The Footsie, which tracks the 100 biggest companies listed in the London stock market, rose 63.57 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 9,578.57, surpassing its previous best of 9,548.87 set on October 8.
It was led higher by Rentokil, the rat catcher, which closed up 34p, or 8.3 per cent, at 441¼p, and London Stock Exchange Group, which rose 626p, or 7.1 per cent, to £93.46, after what analysts described as a couple of “solid” third-quarter trading updates.
London’s pair of oil supermajors, BP and Shell, were beneficiaries of the United States imposing “tremendous sanctions” on Russia’s two biggest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, which President Trump hopes will hasten the end of the war in Ukraine.
That triggered a rise in oil prices. Brent crude rose almost…
