London’s commodity-heavy blue-chip index had energy companies to thank for breaking its three-day losing streak yesterday as the FTSE 100 recovered some of last week’s losses with stocks following rising oil prices.

The strength of commodity-related companies was further illustrated as the index gave debuts to several energy groups after the reshuffle, at the expense of beleaguered financial and property companies.

More than a third of the FTSE’s market capitalisation is made up of commodity-related companies, up from about a quarter last year, as investors continue to sell out of banks and housebuilders and buy miners, oil stocks and power generators.

The FTSE 100 gained 46.4 points to close at 5,667.2, outperforming peers in Germany and France.

The oil majors were a driving force as crude prices approached $137 a barrel, up $1.38. Saudi Arabia’s promise to pump more oil if needed failed to win over a sceptical market.

BP gained 10¼p, Royal Dutch Shell A added 30p at £19.83, and BG rose 29p to £12.60.

Tullow Oil, up 32p at 985p, and Cairn Energy, 55p higher at £32.01, also benefited.

But the prospect of higher fuel costs was bad news for British Airways, down 6½p, and easyJet, 12p lower at 279½p.

Miners were broadly higher, with BHP Billiton up 21p to £19.08 and Xstrata gaining 83p to £42.81. However, Rio Tinto dropped 6p to £59.74, with investors seemingly unimpressed that the company managed to secure an 85 per cent rise in 2008 iron ore contract prices. Power companies Centrica, up 7¼p, and Scottish & Southern, 35p higher at £14.61, were also among the top risers.

Of the FTSE 100’s new entrants, Drax added 11½p to 730p. Invensys rose 17p to 298¼p and Petrofac gained 11½p to 737½p.

Pharmaceutical groups were the other big winners of the day, with Shire, up 45½p after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to “buy”, telling clients that the market was overfocused on its Vyvanse ADHD drug and overlooking the rest of its portfolio. AstraZeneca rose 65p to £21.57 and GlaxoSmithKline added 22½p.

HBOS took up where it left off last week, sinking below its rights issue offer price of 275p, falling another 12p to 270¼p, after UBS trimmed its target price and one hedge fund revealed a short position of more than 3 per cent.

Lloyds TSB lost 8¾p as investors showed their concern over rumours that the bank is looking at buying Dresdner.

Land Securities, down 64p at £12.75, became the biggest casualty of a property sector downgrade by JPMorgan. Liberty International, down 23½p at 881p, and British Land, 21p lower at 745p, also suffered.

Tate & Lyle was among the FTSE 250’s biggest risers, up 18¼p, after Corn Products International, an American rival, agreed to a $4.4 billion takeover by Bunge, the oilseed processor.

New York: Stocks were flat as rising oil prices lifted oil producers but hurt consumer-facing stocks. The prospect of the Fed’s two-day interest-rate meeting, starting today, also hung over the market. At the close the Dow Jones industrial average was down 17.50 points at 11,825.20.

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