Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 crept into the green on Thursday, with solid buying pressure in the afternoon aiding London's oil majors.
"It's been a disjointed session for European markets today. We've seen a modest drift higher largely due to the recovery of US markets off their intraday lows from yesterday, which has helped add some support for prices," CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said.
"The FTSE100 has been helped by a resilient oil and gas sector, with a rebound in oil prices helping to underpin the broader index, led by BP and Shell. On the downside we're seeing a drag from a whole host of companies going ex-dividend including abrdn, M&G, Aviva and HSBC."
The FTSE 100 index closed up 26.10 points, or 0.4%, at 7,541.85. The FTSE 250 ended up 109.61 points, or 0.6%, at 20,136.65, but the AIM All-Share, however, closed down 2.11 points, or 0.3%, at 924.56..
The Cboe UK 100 closed up 0.3% at 753.40, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.4% at 17,421.11, and the Cboe Small Companies closed down 0.5% at 14,350.49.
In European equities on Thursday, both the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt closed up 0.5%.
IG's Joshua Mahony said: "Oil & gas stocks have enjoyed a welcome boost today, following a period of weakness in crude prices that took Brent into a fresh five-month low."
Brent oil was quoted at USD96.12 a barrel Thursday evening, up sharply from USD93.38 late Wednesday. BP closed 2.6% higher, while peer Shell advanced 1.6%.
"Yesterday's surprise 7.1 million barrel contraction in US inventories helped undermine the bearish breakdown taking shape for crude, lifting hopes that a tightening supply-demand dynamic will push prices upwards once again. However, with an economic slowdown seemingly a foregone conclusion for many of the world’s top crude consumers, it looks likely that this rebound will soon be sold into on the premise of lower demand," Mahony added.
London's blue chips also got a boost from a rebound from the UK's housebuilders. A day after finishing at the bottom of the FTSE 100, Persimmon closed out Thursday as one of its best performers.
On Wednesday, Persimmon said its half-year earnings declined. The York-based company said revenue in the half-year to June 30 fell 8.3% to GBP1.69 billion from GBP1.84 billion a year ago. Completions during the half amounted to 6,652 new homes, down from 7,406 a year earlier, as expected.
Despite the fall in profit, the housebuilder remained optimistic: "While near term uncertainties continue the longer-term fundamentals remain strong," it said. It continues to target around 10% growth in active outlets by the end of 2022.
It added 2.2% on Thursday, regaining some of Wednesday's 7.8% loss. Rivals Barratt Developments, Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley followed suit, adding 1.6%, 1.8% and 0.8%, respectively.
Keeping a lid on the FTSE 100, abrdn, M&G, Aviva and HSBC gave back 2.5%, 2.3%, 4.2% and 0.8% after the stocks went ex-dividend.
In the midcaps, Marshalls ended the worst performer, losing 7.3%.
It hailed a "robust" first half but is mindful of economic uncertainty, as it expects full year expectations to be in line with market forecasts.
For the six months that ended on June 30, the Elland, West Yorkshire-based landscaping products said revenue climbed 17% to GBP348.4 million from GBP298.1 million a year earlier, reflecting "two months contribution from Marley and growth of 7% on a like for like basis."
The firm's pretax profit dropped 38% year-on-year to GBP23.9 million from GBP38.9 million, as net operating costs climbed 25% to GBP321.1 million from GBP257.1 million.
In London's junior market, Aeorema Communications jumped 12% as it now expects its full-year revenue and profit to exceed previous forecasts thanks to strong demand.
The live events agency said it expects to deliver a pretax profit of no less than GBP830,000 in the year ended June 30. This would swing the firm from a loss of GBP159,698 the previous year and exceed its previous expectations of a GBP700,000 profit.
Revenue is expected at GBP12.2 million, beating previous guidance of GBP11.8 million if achieved and up sharply from GBP5.1 million in the last financial year.
Chief Executive Steve Quah said there was "undoubtedly" strong demand for the firm's event services.
Stocks in New York were mixed at the London equities close following the release of the latest meeting minutes from the US Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.3%.
The Fed reaffirmed its commitment to cutting the high levels of inflation, but indicated it could rein in the pace of interest rate increases "at some point".
"Last night’' Fed minutes appear to have divided opinion as to whether the Fed was being hawkish or dovish," CMC's Hewson said.
"Whatever your point of view, and with Jackson Hole next week, the outlook for rates needs to be measured against the reality of whether you think it's credible that the Federal Reserve will start cutting rates next year," he continued. "The US central bank has expended a great deal of capital in raising rates quite aggressively in the past few months, and while we can expect to see further rate increases heading into year end, it's unlikely that we’ll suddenly see rates coming back down again quickly in 2023, if inflation is still well above the Fed’s target rate of 2%, which seems likely."
The euro stood at USD1.0132 late Thursday, down against USD1.0155 late Wednesday after figures confirmed the annual eurozone inflation rate surged at a record pace of 8.9% in July, picking up steam from 8.6% in June.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2000 Thursday evening, down compared to USD1.2040 at the close on Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY135.10, down compared to JPY135.44 late Wednesday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,761.70 an ounce, up against USD1,753.55 at the close on Wednesday.
In the international economics calendar on Friday, there is Japan inflation figures overnight, followed by UK retail sales and German producer prices at 0800 BST then Swiss industrial production at 0830 BST.
The local corporate calendar has interim results from Irish building materials firm Kingspan and private equity funds investor Apax Global Alpha.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
