Top gainers in the FTSE 350 index today have been mostly energy related stocks as the outlook for oil has moved to anticipate gains on the back of the conflict in the Middle East as well as an anticipated cold snap.
Among the top five stocks showing the largest share price rise across the UK market as of 1:30pm were Dana Petroleum, Cairn Energy and Talvivaara Mining Company, according to Hemscott data. Within the large cap index, the FTSE 100, leading stocks included Anglo American, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. The three resource giants saw their share prices rise 7.04%, 5.75% and 6.20% respectively as of 1:30pm today.
Other resource related stocks among the top 20 best performing stocks in the FTSE 100 today were BG, Xstrata, Vedanta Resources, Eurasian Natural Resources, water supplier Severn Trent, electricity provider Drax Group and mining companies Kazakhmys and Randgold Resources.
The share price increases come on the back of the sharp rise in the price of oil today with expectations that it could move higher still. Just last week the price of oil was falling as demand concerns outweighed speculation that Opec could further cut production. However, today the price of oil rose some 8% moving back above $40 a barrel, based on raised tensions in the Middle East arising from the conflict between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers. According to news reports the conflict and tension could disrupt oil supply in the region.
The price of oil has fallen sharply over the course of the year, having peaked in July at $147 a barrel and since falling by more than $100 to below $40. It is expected the price of crude will remain volatile in the year ahead with some reports stating analysts and economists are forecasting a price range for oil of between $40 and $65.