The UK FTSE 100 index returned to a record high after the oil giant promised to give more cash back to shareholders after the shares of Bloomberg-BP Plc went up for a second day.
The stock was up by 3.4% to 533.7 pence on Wednesday, an increase of 8% in the previous session. According to Bloomberg, Tuesday s gain was the biggest for BP's stock on any quarterly results day for at least a decade.
A 10% increase in dividend and an extra $2.75 billion of share buybacks was announced by BP, after the rewards of higher oil and gas prices.
Read: Big Oil s Rally Stalls, Even With All the Buybacks: Taking Stock
Analysts at Barclays Plc on Wednesday gave BP a 1,000 pence-a-share price target - the highest among 25 firms surveyed - while describing it as the most misunderstood company in its coverage. The analysts wrote that the longevity in the traditional upstream business and a profitable renewables unit should drive stronger cash flow.
With a weight of almost 5% in the British blue-chip benchmark, BP pushed the FTSE 100 up more than 1% in two days, reaching a new all-time peak of 7,928 points.
Oil has gained its biggest gain in three months on the optimism that the Federal ReserveFederal Reserve will relax its interest rate hikes, which is a benefit to global energy stocks.
Sam Unsted, James Cone and Ludovic Theunissen assisted in the process.
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