FTSE 100 Inches Higher As BP Posts Record Profit

U.K. stocks traded higher on Tuesday as higher oil prices lifted energy stocks.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 33 points, or 0.4 percent, at 7,869 after closing 0.8 percent lower the previous day.

Oil major BP Plc soared almost 4 percent after it posted a record annual profit, in line with increasing natural gas and oil sales from rising prices.

Peer Shell gained about 1 percent, as oil extended gains from the previous session on worries about supply issues resulting from the shutdown of a significant export facility after a powerful earthquake in Turkey.

AstraZeneca was little changed despite the EU approving its drug Forxiga for the treatment of symptomatic chronic heart failure.

Telecom major Vodafone dropped half a percent as it launched three concurrent offers to purchase for cash any and all of the outstanding series of notes maturing in May 2048, February 2043 and May 2038.