LONDON: The FTSE ended higher on Thursday as oil major BP rose after reaching an US$18.7 billion settlement with the U.S. government and commodity stocks tracked stronger crude oil and metals prices.
BP rose 4.5 percent, the top gainer in the blue-chip FTSE 100 index, after saying it had reached the settlement on the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill.
"They have managed to draw a line under this long-standing dispute and can now start afresh," Jawaid Afsar, sales trader at Securequity, said.
The UK Oil and Gas and mining indexes gained 2.1 percent and 0.8 percent respectively, after metals firmed on signs the growth slowdown in top consumer China is levelling out and oil prices surged after weaker-than-expected U.S. non-farm payrolls data.
Britain's benchmark FTSE 100 index ended 0.3 percent higher at 6,630.47 points. The index gained more than 1 percent on Wednesday, after sharp falls in the previous four sessions on concerns about Greece.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has urged Greeks to reject creditors' terms in a referendum on Sunday, after Greece failed to make a debt repayment to the IMF earlier in the week.
"Greece uncertainty is creating shorter-term headwinds, but when we focus on the fundamentals we believe they are still supportive for European equities," Robert Parkes, equity strategist at HSBC Global Research, said.
"We're expecting earnings growth this year for Europe, ex-UK, to be more than double the consensus expectation. We're looking for 25 percent earnings growth this year and we believe that will be enough to keep the bull market intact."
Among other movers, Dixons Carphone was up 1.2 percent after announcing a deal with Sprint Corp. to open and manage Sprint-branded stores in the United States. Analysts welcomed the deal by the retailer, formed last year from the merger of Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse.
"It's quite a smart move. There were a few questions over Carphone Warehouse's business model. They've diversified with the merger with Dixons, but expanding into the States ... makes a lot of sense," Jasper Lawler, analyst at CMC Markets, said.
The market was also helped by data showing U.S. job growth slowed in June, tempering expectations for a September interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.
Babcock, British Land, Burberry, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling and Royal Mail traded without entitlement to their latest dividend payout, which trimmed a further 1.7 points off the FTSE 100, by Reuters calculations.- Reuters
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