In London on Thursday, the FTSE 100 gained 13.8 points to 5,259.7, but the FTSE 250 lost 33.0 points to 7,508.7 on a volume of 3.5 billion shares traded.

UBS upgraded the price targets of oil companies BP, Shell, and BG Group. BP’s target was raised to 700p, up 13 percent, while Shell and BG Group were each upgraded by 14 percent.

This sent shares in BP up 0.6 percent to 625 ½p, while Shell gained 0.8 percent to 549p and BG Group was up 0.1 percent to 469 ¼p.

In the financial sector, asset management group Schroeders gained 2 percent to 810 ½p, while Man Group, the hedge fund manager, was up 1.9 percent to £15.46.