FTSE stays fresh but Coca-Cola HBC stock goes worse than flat – London Report
THE FTSE closed at a fresh four-month high yesterday helped by a rebound in energy shares, although hefty falls in Greece-exposed Coca-Cola HBC capped gains.
Heavyweight oil & gas majors BP, BG and Shell rebounded sharply in the afternoon after the secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), Abdullah al-Badri, said he thought crude prices may have reached their bottom.
Crude prices also bounced off their early lows, with benchmark WTI front-end contracts having dropped to near their lowest since April 2009.
The FTSE 100 closed 19.57 points higher, or 0.3 per cent, at 6,852.40 points.
The index had last week recorded its biggest weekly rise in three years, mirroring broad gains across Europe as the European Central Bank unveiled a bond-buying programme to stimulate the Eurozone economy.
Coca-Cola HBC, for which Greece is a solid market, fell 3.2 per cent in hefty volume as the success of anti-bailout party Syriza in the election reignited the prospect of financial upheaval.