The FTSE 100 climbed 0.4% on Monday, outperforming most other major European indices, as gains in oil majors and the benchmark’s defensive tilt underpinned sentiment. Shares in Shell and BP each advanced about 1%, supported by Brent crude edging back toward $107 a barrel after Saudi Arabia shut a key crude pipeline in the wake of attacks, curtailing an alternative export route to the Strait of Hormuz. Supply worries were further heightened by the postponement of a planned meeting between Iran and several Gulf states on creating a temporary shipping corridor through Hormuz.
GSK gained more than 4.5% after reporting positive clinical trial results for its lung-cancer drug Jideytro. AstraZeneca added around 3.8% even as its breast-cancer treatment Etcamah failed to beat the current standard of care in a late-stage study. Among other blue-chip movers, Unilever and BAT rose 3% and 3.7%, respectively. Legal & General also advanced roughly 1.3% after launching the second £600 million tranche of its share buyback programme.
