(Evening Standard (London) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 21--Record oil prices may come as a bitter blow to motorists, but the soaring cost of black gold pumped up energy stocks today.

As crude broke through the $130-a-barrel level and a growing number of speculators predicted it will hit $150 by 2010, investors rushed to buy into oil companies. Royal Dutch Shell A shares surged to the top of the Footsie leaderboard, advancing by 96p to 2237p while the B shares climbed 88p to 2200p.

Oil and gas explorers BG Group, Tullow Oil and Cairn Energy followed Shell's lead, with BG putting on 57p to 1379p, Tullow 37 1/2p better at 971p and Cairn up 153p to 3672p. BP was another of the day's big winners, rising 20 3/4p to 648 3/4p despite a double whammy of bad news as Gazprom ruled out a joint venture with the oil giant this year, and BP's Moscow offices were again raided by the Russian security services.

But the strong showing from oil shares did little to boost the FTSE 100. Despite initial gains, the index was later trading up just 0.5 at 6192.1 after minutes from the Bank of England monetary policy committee's interest rate-setting meeting reiterated that inflation would limit the scope for rate cuts.

There was evidence investors were on the lookout for bargains as miners recovered slightly from yesterday's mega sell-off. Kazakhmys rose 40p to 1832p, Anglo American moved 49p higher to 3502p and BHP Billiton was 15p dearer at 2038p. Broker sentiment on the sector also improved, with UBS increasing Vedanta Resources' price target to 3100p from 2600p. The shares shot up 54p to 2691p.

But retailers and housebuilders failed to share in the glory. Despite breaking through the ?1 billion profits barrier yesterday, Marks & Spencer remained out of favour. In a note typical of analysts' sceptical comments of late, top retail watcher Nick Bubb of Pali International again advised clients to sell the shares. He reckons next year's profits will tumble to ?875 million as debts rise and cash flows out of the business, and believes 325p is fair value for the stock.

His views were echoed by Societe Generale, which cut its target price for the retailer to 328p from 359p. JPMorgan was the lone positive voice, raising its target to 370p from 350p, although it too warned that market conditions could prove challenging. M&S crashed below 400p yesterday and retreated again today, down 3p to 393p.

Housebuilders endured another grim day after plumbing supplies giant Wolseley warned of a sharp slowdown in activity in the UK -- a reflection of the crippled housing market. Taylor Wimpey was worst hit, falling 16p, or more than 13 percent, to 105 1/2p as it went ex-dividend. Bellway, off 42p at 64712p, was another heavy faller, as it also went ex-dividend.

Property investment firm Segro, down 12 1/2p at 443p, also suffered, with Goldman Sachs advising clients to sell the stock, and cutting its target price from 429p to 418p. Goldman warned that conditions in European real-estate markets are likely to deteriorate further, particularly in Britain where nearly three-quarters of Segro's revenue is generated.

Brokers took against Yell after its decision to slash its dividend sent the shares sinking yesterday. Credit Suisse slashed its target price for the Yellow Pages publisher from 275p to 140p in the wake of full-year figures but kept its neutral rating on the stock, saying cost-cutting measures should help offset the impact of deteriorating revenues.

Citigroup also reduced its price target to 333p from 360p, but said it believed the divi cut would increase the company's financial flexibility. The shares slumped a further 15 3/4p to 138 1/4p.

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