Retail news sends FTSE up

The FTSE 100 Index was on the front foot today amid surging oil prices and some positive retail news.

Energy firms and miners were among the winners as oil and commodity prices rose, with supermarket Tesco 5% ahead after posting a double-digit profits increase.

They helped the Footsie rise 55.3 points to 5886.9 by mid-morning, bringing to an end a five-day losing streak for the top flight index.

Tesco added 23.5p to 414.5p after the firm posted a reassuring update with annual profits up 11.8% and like-for-like sales ahead by more than 4% in the first five weeks of its new financial year.

The index's biggest rise came from AstraZeneca after it secured an agreement with India's Ranbaxy Laboratories to end a lawsuit over patent infringements for its Nexium heartburn drug.

The verdict on a key product in the Astra portfolio lifted shares 172p to 2153p, a rise of nearly 9%.

Another riser was BG Group after the reported discovery of a huge oil field off the coast of Brazil. Shares in the firm, which has an interest in the find, were up 69p at 1291p.

Oil prospector Cairn Energy added 66p to 3029p as oil prices topped US$112 a barrel. Among the mining stocks in the black was BHP Billiton, which added 35p to 1741p.

Carphone Warehouse was the morning's biggest loser, dropping more than 10%, or 28p to 238.5p, after it posted weaker-than-expected broadband additions for the fourth quarter of its financial year.

In the FTSE 250 Index, fashion label Burberry topped the leader board after announcing that second half like-for-like sales were up 6%. Shares added 37p to 433p.

Retailer Debenhams rose 1.5p to 58.5p as the market cheered pre-tax profits of £94.1 million, down 12% on a year earlier but better than City forecasts.