FTSE LIVE: Pound steady as May and Corbyn hold Brexit talks

The FTSE 100 closed up 5.02 points at 7451.89 and the pound was at $1.31 against the dollar.

Oil prices hit their highest level so far this year, fuelled by violent clashes in oil-rich Libya.

The instability poses a threat to the supply of oil from Libya. A barrel of Brent crude was trading 0.97 per cent higher at $71.08.

On the FTSE 100, BP led the risers after benefiting from the higher oil prices to rise 9.6p to 578.2p.

It was closely followed by A shares in Royal Dutch Shell, which were up 29.5p to 2,505p.

Elsewhere on the stock market, it was another day of share price fluctuation for Debenhams, as Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct made an offer to underwrite a £150million rights issue which was later rejected.

Debenhams was expected on Monday night to be heading towards a pre-pack administration. Shares closed 0.21p, or 10.29 per cent, lower at 1.83p.

Student accommodation provider Unite Group said that reservations for the next academic year are ‘progressing strongly’ and are ahead year on year. Shares in the firm were up 1.5p to 935p.

The annual report for British Gas owner Centrica revealed that chief executive Iain Conn pocketed a £2.4million pay packet last year, despite the firm losing hundreds of thousands of customers as it embarked on a major jobs cull. Shares in the firm were down 0.5p to 110.2p.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were BP up 9.6p to 578.2p, Royal Dutch Shell (A) up 29.5p to 2,505p, Rio Tinto up 53.5p to 4,718p and Royal Dutch Shell (B) up 25.5p to 2,522.5p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were NMC Health down 109p to 2,417p, Just Eat down 33p to 738.4p, Paddy Power down 142p to 6,128p and Melrose Industries down 3.8p to 189p.