Brent Crude continued to be the main driver of growth this Tuesday, with little else to challenge it in terms of market-swaying power.
The black stuff has now crossed $64 per barrel, as commodity investors continue to rub their hands in glee at the potentially disruptive political purge currently underway in Saudi Arabia. This allowed both BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa) both to post another half a percent jump soon after the bell, in turn helping to keep the FTSE at fresh7570-tickling record highs (even if the index is only up 0.1%).
The FTSE’s also been aided by sterling’s slow start. The pound did a good job of recovering last week’s losses on Monday, climbing to €1.135 against the euro and $1.315 against the dollar; it seems a bit puffed out this morning, however, sitting flat against the former while dipping 0.1% against the latter.
Perhaps preventing the FTSE from fully taking off this Tuesday was Primark-owner Associated British Foods (LON:ABF), which fell 3.7% following its annual results. The figures themselves were pretty damn robust, with a 15% surge in revenue to £15.4 billion (and a 19% rise at Primark) alongside a 22% jump in adjusted operating profit to £1.36 billion. Yet a relatively lacklustre 1% like-for-like sales growth at the high street fashion brand, alongside the warning that weaker pound-dollar exchange rates will have ‘an adverse effect on margin in the first half’ of next year, took the shine off of its headline figures, driving ABF lower.
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