Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Monday with oil majors helping to drive gains in the FTSE 100, as oil prices hit three-year highs, while Rolls-Royce led large-cap stock risers after winning a major US contract.
The FTSE 100 index was up 52.96 points, or 0.8%, at 7,108.40 early Monday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 174.52 points, or 0.7%, at 23,784.43. The AIM All-Share index was up 5.00 points, or 0.4%, at 1,271.98.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.9% at 707.40. The Cboe 250 was up 0.3% at 21,518.30. The Cboe Small Companies was 0.2% higher at 15,762.80.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris was up 0.5% and the DAX 40 index in Frankfurt was up 1.0%.
In the FTSE 100, Rolls-Royce was the best performer, up 4.6%, after the jet engine maker said its Rolls-Royce North America unit was selected by the US Air Force to provide the power plant for the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.
The agreement was signed under the Commercial Engine Replacement Program and is worth a potential USD2.6 billion.
As part of the deal, Rolls-Royce will build and test the F130 engines at its Indianapolis, Indiana, facility following the recent completion of a USD600 million investment in the manufacturing campus. The B-52 CERP win creates demand for 650 engines to be produced at the site.
Further, the Rolls-Royce F130 engine will replace the TF33-PW-103, which has powered the B-52 since the 1960s, and is projected to no longer be supportable beyond 2030. The B-52 original equipment manufacturer, Boeing, is responsible for integrating the engines onto the aircraft.
Shares in oil majors BP, Royal Dutch Shell 'A' and Shell 'B' were up 2.0%. 2.6% and 2.5% respectively, tracking spot oil prices higher.
Brent oil was quoted at USD79.22 a barrel Monday morning, up sharply from USD77.86 late Friday. The North Sea benchmark touched an intraday high of USD79.52 in early trade - its highest level since October 2018.
The spike in oil prices came amid a petrol crisis which has seen panic-buying in at least half of local stations in the UK.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to be considering whether to call in soldiers to deliver fuel to petrol stations as pumps ran dry after days of panic buying.
Emergency measures were triggered on Sunday evening, with Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng choosing to suspend competition laws for the fuel industry to allow suppliers to target filling stations running low.
Multiple reports suggested that Johnson on Monday will mull whether to follow that by taking the drastic step of sending in the army to drive oil tankers as "frenzied buying" added to fuel supply issues caused by a lack of HGV drivers.
"The primary drivers are a combination of bottlenecks, spill-over from other energy markets and the global recovery. As long as we do not see broad based USD weakness - which is not our base case - we still think prices are capped from a faster output normalisation from OPEC+," said analysts at Danske Bank.
Prudential was up 2.2% after the insurer said it expects to raise HKD18.5 billion, about USD2.37 billion, from its Hong Kong share offering. Its Hong Kong-listed shares were up 2.8% to HKD151.90.
The new shares will be priced at HKD143.80 each, equivalent to GBP13.52. That price was first reported by Bloomberg News on Friday last week. Earlier last week, Prudential had said the shares would be sold for a maximum of HKD172 each.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals was up 1.1% after the generic drugmaker said it has agreed to buy Carlsbad, California-based injectables supplier Custopharm for USD375 million.
Hikma said the acquisition complements its own injectable product portfolio and pipeline, adding 13 approved products and additional pipeline products. The company expects the acquisition to generate annual revenue of over USD80 million and for the acquisition to be accretive to Hikma's Injectables operating margin.
Conversely, United Utilities was down 0.5% despite issuing an upbeat trading update. The water company said trading has been in line with expectations during its first half, with earnings set to climb despite the water company facing inflationary pressures.
In the FTSE 250, IWG was up 5.6% after Sky News reported on Sunday that Chief Executive Mark Dixon is exploring breaking up the office provider into several distinct companies.
Dixon is looking at options including a US listing for Worka, IWG's app that allows customers to book office space. The listing could be through an initial public offering or a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, Sky said, citing insiders.
Under the plans being considered, IWG's owned-property unit would be separated from its franchising business, according to the report.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed flat on Monday. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.9%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.4%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended up 0.6%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3687 early Monday, up from USD1.3670 at the London equities close Friday.
The euro was priced at USD1.1705, marginally lower from USD1.1710. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY110.65, down slightly from JPY110.73 late Friday.
Gold stood at USD1,758.12 an ounce early Monday, higher against USD1,751.33 late Friday.
A quiet economic calendar on Monday has US durable goods orders at 1330 BST.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
