Petro Matad shares rose on Monday after the Mongolia-focused energy company outlined production payment terms that will generate regular revenue from May.

Petro Matad has announced the signing of an Oil Sales Agreement with PetroChina Daqing Tamsag for Block XX crude oil production, which lays the foundations for steady cash flows that can help support additional exploration and optimisation of their Mongolian assets.

The agreement, signed today, covers the storage, processing, transport and export of crude oil from Block XX. PetroChina Daqing Tamsag operates the neighbouring Block XIX.

Petro Matad has submitted invoices for production from the Heron 1 well covering the period from October 24, 2024, to March 31, 2025. These invoices will be processed for payment during May 2025.

Going forward, Petro Matad will submit monthly invoices by the tenth day of the subsequent month. Payments will be made during the last week of each month, based on the average benchmarked price of Daqing crude oil for the production month.

Custody transfer of Block XX oil occurs at the Block XIX processing facilities. PetroChina will handle all processing, transport, and export of the crude oil to buyers in China.

“We are delighted to have signed the oil sales agreement for the commercialisation of Block XX production. This involved a number of firsts for Mongolia and whilst the process was slow, we are grateful to the Mongolian authorities and to PetroChina for their support,” said Mike Buck, CEO of Petro Matad.

“We look forward to establishing a cooperative routine in the sales process in the same way that the field crews in Blocks XIX and XX have done in the production operations over the last 6 months and to receiving payment for all the oil produced to date during the month of May.”

The FTSE 100 was steady again on Friday as the continued de-escalation of trade tensions supported US equities overnight and helped lift the mood in Europe on Friday.

London’s leading index was 0.1% higher at the time of writing and looked set for another weekly gain as the FTSE 100’s recovery from the Liberation Day selloff ground on.

“Another strong session on Wall Street yesterday lifted spirits at the end of the trading week, resulting in small but welcome gains across much of European equities markets on Friday,” says Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“The past three weeks have been chaotic and investors have been subjected to a whirlwind of events. That chaos is now easing away and replaced by a tentative feeling of serenity. Donald Trump could easily turn markets back on their head with a single remark, but for now, we can embrace a moment of calm.

“First, we had indications that the Trump administration might soften its tone in the fight against China. Now we have reports that China might exempt certain US imports from tariffs. While tariffs are unlikely to go away completely, any easing of the trade war will be lapped up by financial markets.”

A softening in trade tensions was reflected in buying pressure for stocks that had been heavily impacted by Trump’s tariff announcement.

Melrose was the FTSE 100’s top gainer as bargain hunters continued to buy the engineering firm after being battered by tariff concerns.

Babcock and Rolls-Royce also gained, demonstrating a clear interest in the sector as concerns about the trade war subside.

There were also table gains for the US-tech focused Polar Capital Technology Trust after a strong session for the sector overnight. The trust’s top holdings include Nvidia, Apple and Alphabet.

The improvement in investor sentiment curtailed demand for gold, sending the price lower on Friday and taking Endeavour Mining to the bottom of the leaderboard with a 2% loss.

WPP has released its trading update for the first quarter of 2025, revealing a decline in revenue against the backdrop of challenging macroeconomic conditions.

The company reported revenue of £3,243 million, representing a 5.0% decrease on a reported basis and a 0.7% decline on a like-for-like basis compared to the same period last year.

Revenue less pass-through costs, a key performance metric for the firm, stood at £2,482 million, down 7.6% on a reported basis and 2.7% on a like-for-like basis.

Despite the soggy start to the year, the advertising giant said that performance was in line with expectations outlined during February’s preliminary results announcement.

The organisation has reiterated its full-year guidance for 2025, projecting like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs to range between flat and -2%, with headline operating profit margin expected to remain approximately flat, excluding foreign exchange impacts.

WPP shares were 0.2% higher at the time of writing.

“In a fiercely competitive advertising arena, WPP is struggling to spark fresh ideas that could kickstart its return to growth,” said Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“With this weakness set to continue into the second quarter, WPP’s leaving itself a lot of work to do late in the year, and there could be room for disappointment as the year progresses.

“Add to that the fallout from recent US-led tariffs, which have sparked major uncertainty across global markets. If they cause an economic slowdown, and WPP’s customers need to rein in their costs, advertising budgets will likely be one of the first things on the chopping block. WPP hasn’t seen client behaviours change yet in response to tariffs, but the picture can change quickly.”