London shares ahead as oil stocks rebound

London shares edged ahead in early trading as BP and Shell continued to recover from recent falls.

After the first hour, the FTSE 100 Index was up 25 at 5323.7.

BP climbed 12p to 540p and Shell jumped 4½p to 498½p after crude oil began to move upwards after hitting $17 at one stage last week.

The hope that non-Opec and Opec producing countries could reach an agreement over production cuts pushed crude back towards the $20 barrier.

Other energy stocks were also on the up, including former British Gas group BG, which moved 5¾p higher to 262¼p. Power group Innogy rose 4¾p to 206½p.

The Footsie's climb came despite a poor start by telecoms and media stocks with Vodafone down 2p at 180¾p early on.

Negative sentiment surrounding the sector also pushed BT down 2¼p to 284¾p while its former mobile phone business mmO2 drifted 1p to 82½p.

Of the media stocks on the way down, ITV broadcaster Granada was off 3p at 146p, BSkyB eased 13½p to 816½p and WPP fell 15p to 681p.

Britain's second-biggest supermarket chain Sainsbury's was also drifting lower despite reporting a 3% rise in first-half profits.

Chief executive Sir Peter Davis says the group is making "excellent progress" but its shares fell 1½p to 385½p.

Among smaller stocks, FTSE 250 computer services firm Dimension Data fell 5%, or 5p to 96p as its full-year results showed the impact of the hi-tech slump.

Losses spiralled to more than £1bn and the group says the trading environment continues to be uncertain.