On Thursday, London’s FTSE 100 reached an intraday record high, buoyed by the performance of oil stocks and favorable results from prominent companies including LSEG and Rentokil. The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 index rose as much as 0.7% to a record high of 9,579.07 points and was experiencing an increase of 0.6% by 1200. Oil majors Shell and BP gained about 3% each, as crude prices jumped more than 5% following U.S. sanctions on major Russian suppliers Rosneft and Lukoil over the Ukraine war.

In earnings, the London Stock Exchange Group jumped 6.7% after announcing the sale of 20% of its post-trade services business, revealing a surprise 1 billion pound buyback, and reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results. Rentokil surged 11.8% following the pest control firm’s announcement of a stronger-than-anticipated increase in quarterly organic revenue. This week, UK equity markets have been buoyed by a generally positive earnings season, a rise in commodity stocks, and indications of easing inflation, which have bolstered expectations for a potential interest rate cut by the Bank of England. The FTSE 100 is poised to achieve its most impressive weekly performance since the middle of April.

The FTSE midcap index of domestically oriented stocks rose 0.1%, trading at a near four-year high. An index of UK precious metal miners advanced 4.5%, tracking gold prices, as U.S. sanctions against Russia and potential new export controls on China heightened geopolitical concerns, thereby increasing demand for safe-haven assets. Meanwhile, Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels dipped 1.2%, despite a rise in a key revenue metric as growth slowed in U.S. markets. St James’s Place shed 4% as the fund manager forecasted weaker flows for the fourth quarter.

Renishaw fell 6% to the bottom of the FTSE 250 index following the engineering firm’s report of weak quarterly sales. Overall, the market reflected a mixture of strong earnings performance and geopolitical tensions, with commodity and energy stocks driving the FTSE 100 to record levels while certain midcap and defensive stocks faced pressure amid slowing growth and cautious forecasts.