Rise in commodity stocks pushes FTSE back near record high

By Sudip Kar-Gupta LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 returned to within reach of its record highs on Monday, as a rise in the shares of major oil and mining companies lifted the stock market. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up by 0.7 percent at 7,007.97 points in early session trading, close to its record high of 7,122.74 points reached in late April. The FTSE 100 is up by around 7 percent since the start of 2015. A rise in oil stocks such as Royal Dutch Shell and BP gave one of the biggest lifts