Key Points
- FTSE 100 closing price of 7169.77, +0.32%
- Crude prices gain as some call for $100 oil
- UK labour market improving but GBP falls
- Bitcoin hovers near $40K
By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – The FTSE 100 finished higher for the 7th day of eight and 10th of the last 12 as another rise in energy stocks supported the index. Some of the domestic travel & leisure names also performed well with some of the worst performers yesterday staging a rebound.
Cinema chain Cineworld (LON:CINE) and Restaurant Group (LON:RTN) were two of the best performing stocks in the FTSE 250 as traders fish for bargains following the sell-off yesterday when it was clear the UK would be delaying the final easing of Covid restrictions.
WTI and Brent crude futures continued their recent rally as calls continue to emerge for $100 oil. Russel Hardy the CEO of Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil trader, said $100 oil was a possibility while Goldman Sachs’ Jeff Currie believes oil demand is set to rise as governments spend on huge, green infrastructure projects.
“We argue that every $2 trillion of green capex spend is worth about 200,000 barrels per day of oil demand,” Currie said.
Energy names listed in London benefitted from the higher oil prices with BP PLC (LON:BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) once again trading near the top of the blue-chip index.
GBP/USD fell to its lowest level in a month, despite relatively upbeat UK employment data which showed a record number of people were added to the payroll last month. The pair dropped through 1.4100 and was heading towards the 50DMA which comes in at 1.4010.
The USD was relatively flat ahead of the Fed’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.
In the world of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin swung around near $40,000 but has so far failed to make a firm break higher. If the $40,000 level holds, then expect bulls to target the 200DMA at $42,609 and then the 50DMA which comes in at $44,332.
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