London midday: Stocks extend gains as energy names rise; Rentokil, LSEG rally
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Thursday 23 Oct 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks had extended gains by midday on Thursday amid a raft of corporate releases, with oil majors BP and Shell among the top performers after the US imposed fresh sanctions on Russian oil firms Rosneft and Lukoil as it looks to ramp up pressure on Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.7% at 9,577.20.
Donald Trump said that while he continued to have "good conversations" with Vladimir Putin, "they don't go anywhere".
Speaking following a meeting with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, the US president told reporters: "These are tremendous sanctions.
"They're big, these are against their two big oil companies and we hope they won't be on for long. We hope that the war will be settled."
These are the first direct sanctions imposed on Russian companies by the current Trump administration.
Steve Clayton, head of equity funds at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Oil markets have spiked higher after news emerged that the US was putting Russia's major oil producers, Rosneft and Lukoil, under sanctions due to the Kremlin's failure to move toward peace in Ukraine.
"Brent crude has climbed 4% to almost $65 per barrel on the news, marking a dramatic recovery from recent weakness in crude markets. America's new stance is in stark contrast to recent messaging from the White House and took markets by surprise. The effectiveness of the sanctions is yet to be proven, but President Trump has said that the Indian PM Narendra Modi has assured him that India will cease Russian oil purchases."
Meanwhile, the trade spat between the US and China rumbled on amid reports the US was considering curbs on sales of goods to China made with US software.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "US-China relations don't look to be in the best place ahead of Trump's visit to Asia.
"Talk of new restrictions on goods that either contain or are made with US software being sold to China would suggest the Trump administration is playing hard ball, sending a message to Xi Jinping that the US will not be pushed around.
"Trump has form in threatening something but then changing his mind, and China might simply see any new tech-related restrictions as just being hot air. Investors were initially taken aback at the reports, with Chinese shares down for much of today's session, but they rallied in late trading to recover losses."
On home shores, a survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed that weak demand weighed on manufacturing activity over the past three months, with output volumes falling and new orders sinking at their fastest pace in more than five years.
In equity markets, BP and Shell were among the top performers amid rising oil prices, along with Ithaca Energy, Harbour Energy and Diversified Energy.
Rentokil was the standout gainer on the FTSE 100 as it said it was on track to meet full-year market expectations after an encouraging third-quarter performance and pointed to improved trading in North America.
LSEG was also sharply higher on the back of strong quarterly results and news it will sell a 20% stake in its clearing unit, Post Trade Solutions, to a group of banks, in a deal that values the business at £850m.
Lloyds Banking Group edged up even as it reported a 36% fall in third-quarter profit after taking an extra £800m hit from the motor finance scandal.
Consumer goods giant Unilever advanced as it reiterated its full-year outlook despite "subdued" market conditions. Updating on third-quarter trading, the blue chip said turnover rose 3.9% on an underlying basis, to €14.7bn, or by 4% once the soon-to-be-demerged ice cream business is stripped out.
Driving the increase was strong growth for Unilever's biggest products - known as its power brands - which saw underlying sales rise 4.4% in the three months, with volume growth ahead 1.7% and prices 2.6%.
St James's Place and Schroders both lost ground after third-quarter updates.
Renishaw slumped as it said exchange rate movements weighed heavily on its top-line performance in the first quarter, with heavy declines in the EMEA region.
AJ Bell was also in the red even after the investment platform and stockbroker services group reported a record performance over the year to 30 September, with customer numbers rising by a fifth and platform assets under administration hitting an all-time high.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,577.20 0.65%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,252.52 0.10%
techMARK (TASX) 5,571.60 -0.31%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 455.20p 11.76%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 9,328.00p 6.97%
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,186.00p 5.10%
BP (BP.) 436.55p 3.60%
Shell (SHEL) 2,854.00p 3.37%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,280.50p 3.10%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,882.00p 2.38%
SEGRO (SGRO) 734.00p 1.86%
Mondi (MNDI) 849.60p 1.80%
Centrica (CNA) 177.70p 1.66%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
St James's Place (STJ) 1,304.00p -3.62%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,272.00p -2.91%
The Sage Group (SGE) 1,148.00p -2.30%
Schroders (SDR) 370.60p -2.22%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,138.00p -2.15%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 8,696.00p -2.03%
Diageo (DGE) 1,817.50p -1.81%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 237.90p -1.78%
Relx plc (REL) 3,446.00p -1.77%
easyJet (EZJ) 485.10p -1.66%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 200.15p 4.46%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,180.00p 4.26%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 212.20p 4.22%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 983.00p 3.09%
International Workplace Group (IWG) 234.40p 3.08%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 656.00p 2.50%
Ninety One (N91) 222.80p 2.48%
Keller Group (KLR) 1,594.00p 2.44%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 216.00p 2.37%
Unite Group (UTG) 593.50p 2.33%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Renishaw (RSW) 3,520.00p -5.25%
AJ Bell (AJB) 532.00p -4.23%
WH Smith (SMWH) 655.50p -3.89%
Softcat (SCT) 1,602.00p -2.32%
Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited (SEQI) 77.80p -2.26%
Supermarket Income Reit (SUPR) 80.00p -2.20%
SSP Group (SSPG) 161.40p -2.18%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 218.50p -1.58%
Grainger (GRI) 195.00p -1.52%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,131.00p -1.48%
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