FTSE closes higher as oil majors shrug off Red Sea transit concerns The FTSE 100 closed up 38.12 points, 0.5%, at 7,614.48 on Monday as oil giants BP and Shell rose despite suspending tanker traffic through the Red Sea. BP gained 1.6% after revealing it has temporarily halted transits following missile strikes by Yemen’s Houthis aimed at Israel. Shell also paused shipping and saw shares climb 1.4%.

The FTSE 250 ended up 11.58 points, 0.1%, at 19,220.55, and the AIM All-Share closed up 1.88 points, or 0.3%, at 741.19.

Entain led blue-chip risers, up 4.1% after Jefferies upgraded the betting group’s stock. Meanwhile, miners Fresnillo closed down 5.2% and precious metals producer Polymetal fell 1.9% after broker downgrades.

On the FTSE 250, IP Group launched a £20 million share buyback scheme through 2024, sending its stock 5.9% higher.

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In contrast, supercapacitor maker Cap-XX plunged 57% on London’s AIM after losing a US court case over patent infringements against Maxwell Technologies.

On AIM, N4 Pharma surged 39% after announcing successful oral administration results for its Nuvec delivery system, showing potential for disease and cancer treatments.