Britain’s top share index rose on Wednesday as gains for Standard Chartered helped extend this week’s rally, although trade was cautious ahead of a final government budget statement before May’s national election.
Standard Chartered rose 6.1 per cent, the top FTSE 100 riser, lifted by positive broker comment. Barclays has welcomed the appointment of former JP Morgan investment bank boss Bill Winters, announced last month, lifting its rating on the stock to “overweight’’ from “equal weight’’.
“We expect the appointment of a new CEO to mark a turning point for Standard Chartered and see plenty of scope for the business to be refocused with a material improvement in returns,’’ analysts at Barclays said in a note.
Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 23.97 points or 0.3 per cent at 6,861.58 by 0848 GMT, with Standard Chartered contributing nearly 5 points of the advance.
Standard Chartered saw nearly half of its 90-day average volume traded just 40 minutes into the session, compared with just 8 per cent of the 90-day average on the broader index.
Trade overall was expected to remain quiet ahead of the budget, due around 1230 GMT.
The FTSE gains built on a 0.5 per cent rise on Tuesday, when oil stocks rallied, boosted by hopes that the battered sector would get some relief from tax measures in Wednesday’s budget.
The index is up 2.5 per cent from last week’s low, leaving it just 1.7 per cent off an all time high set on March 2.
As well as tax breaks for the North Sea oil industry, finance minister George Osborne is expected to extend pension reforms, crack down on tax avoidance and cut duty on beer.
“We’re looking for some tax breaks in the oil & gas sector that will allow more investment to start again in the North Sea,’’ Atif Latif, director of trading at Guardian Stockbrokers, said.
“Given the current performance of the oil market this will be a positive for the sector.’’
Oil stocks have been among the poorest performers in the FTSE 100 this year, with Tullow Oil down around 30 per cent and due to leave the blue-chip index next week.
Tullow came under pressure again on Wednesday as Brent crude fell towards $53 a barrel, while Weir dropped 3.5 per cent. The engineer has suffered as oil firms have cut back on investment in new capital projects.