FTSE 100 movers: Energy shares rally; Admiral hit by downgrade

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 1% at 7,231.14 in afternoon trade on Monday. Harbour Energy, BP and Shell all gushed higher as oil prices rose. Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Supply concerns have once again overtaken anxiety about weakening demand on oil markets, with Brent Crude edging back up above $103 a barrel, helping lift share prices of energy giants in early trade.

"There are no signs of imminent breakthroughs in efforts by the US administration to persuade Gulf States to pump more oil, and there is increased uncertainty about the impact of a possible price cap on Russian crude as the Ukraine war as Moscow prepares for its next offensive. These factors are conspiring to push up prices, even though worries are still lingering about fresh outbreaks of Covid cases in China, with the zero-Covid strategy still threatening to lead to fresh supply chain snarl ups and lower demand for oil."

Miners also rallied, with Rio Tinto, Antofagasta and Glencore all up.

On the downside, GlaxoSmithKline tumbled as it spun off its consumer healthcare arm Haleon in Europe's largest listing for more than a decade.

Admiral was also under the cosh as peer Direct Line cut its full-year profits outlook after a spike in motor claims inflation and market volatility.

The shares were also hit by a downgrade to 'underperform' from 'hold' at Jefferies, which cut the price target to 1,525p from 2,300p. The bank said it expects Admiral's profit commissions to reduce significantly.