UK’s FTSE 100 eyes weekly gain as oil stocks rally outweighs Omicron worries

UK’s FTSE 100 rose on Friday, on course for weekly gains as a jump in commodity-linked stocks helped the blue-chip index shake off gloom around the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The index rose 0.5% by 0816 GMT. Oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell rose 2.8% and 1.8%, respectively, tracking firmer crude prices after OPEC+ said it would review supply additions ahead of its next scheduled meeting if the Omicron variant dents demand.

Insurer Prudential rose 2.1% and Legal & General Group inched up after German peer Allianz raised its targets for shareholder returns for 2022-24.

The FTSE 100 is set for a 1.8% weekly gain, recovering some of the losses seen last week when fears around the newly detected coronavirus variant gripped global stock markets.

The domestically focussed mid-cap index advanced 0.6%, with travel stocks among the best performers. For the week so far, the index is up 1.3%.

Home improvement retailer Wickes Group added 9.1% after it raised full-year profit outlook, saying it had continued to trade well in the fourth quarter so far.

Fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown added nearly 1% after appointing Amy Stirling as chief financial officer, to replace Philip Johnson. (Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)