London - Britain's top share index returned to within reach of its record highs on Monday, as a rise in the shares of major oil and mining companies lifted the stock market.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up by 0.7 percent at 7,007.97 points in early session trading, close to its record high of 7,122.74 points reached in late April. The FTSE 100 is up by around 7 percent since the start of 2015.
A rise in oil stocks such as Royal Dutch Shell and BP gave one of the biggest lifts to the market, after fighting in Iraq and Yemen pushed up oil prices.
Gold and silver miner Fresnillo advanced by 3.5 percent after Fresnillo gave a reassuring outlook at its annual general meeting, saying that its 2018 silver production target remained in place.
Firmer aluminium prices also enabled mining shares to advance, with the FTSE 350 Mining Index rising 1.3 percent.
Engineering company Weir also gained 3.3 percent after US bank Citigroup upgraded its rating on the stock to “buy” from “neutral”.
“The FTSE has been a bit choppy of late but it's looking a bit more positive today,” said Hantec Markets' analyst Richard Perry.
Among the mid-cap stocks, engineering software group Aveva rose 8 percent on bid speculation, but satellite company Inmarsat fell 3.3 percent after a delay in the launch of its third Global Xpress satellite.
Reuters