London close: US rally buoys Footsie
Triple digit gains on Wall Street and recovering miners helped London's blue chips cancel a near 50-point loss at midday to finish in positive territory by the end of play.
PartyGaming was top of the pile as it continued to attract buying interest, while Associated British Foods did well on news it is teaming up with oil giant BP and chemicals manufacturer DuPont to create UK biofuel. UBS advised buying the shares on the news.
Commercial TV broadcaster ITV rose on the back of new it is to increase its cash return to shareholders this year from £300m to £500m, despite its advertising revenue continuing to fall in the first half.
Meanwhile, drug giant GlaxoSmithKline was given a helping hand as Morgan Stanley said that concerns the group overpaid for Pfizer's over-the-counter drug division have been overdone.
BP and Royal Dutch Shell managed slim gains as the price of crude hovered around $69 a barrel. Miners also fought back from early losses. Antofagasta and Kakakhmys were higher, while top 100 new boys Vedanta and Lonmin also rallied.
DSG International was by far the biggest faller after it warned that it was remaining cautious over prospects for consumer confidence and expenditure over the next 12 months.
The comments came as DSG revealed underlying annual profit fell 4% last year to £318m, though sales rose 6% to £7.4bn. The former Dixons also confirmed it is selling its 60% stake in The Link Stores to O2 for £30m.
Supermarket group J Sainsbury also fell despite announcing a further recovery in sales for the first quarter, growing them ahead of the market. Total sales for the first quarter to 17 June rose 8.1% while like-for-like sales grew 7.1%.
Credit Suisse rates the shares "underperform" arguing that comparatives will begin to toughen considerably now.
UK lender HBOS finished easier despite saying business remains robust and that it remains comfortable with forecasts for 2006 underlying profit before tax of £5.19bn and underlying EPS of 94.9p.
Minutes from the latest Bank of England meeting revealed that all but one of the bank's Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep rates unchanged.
News that plumbing supplies group Wolseley has spent £900m on acquisitions in the current year unnerved Deutsche Bank, which said it was concerned the value of such deals is beginning to diminish. It kept its "buy" advice though.
Financial software group Misys expects full year adjusted basic earnings per share to be in the range of 14.p to 14.6p as it continues to see attractive growth opportunities in its core markets.
Oil distributor Hunting stood out among the mid caps, saying favourable trading conditions have continued with profit for the full year now expected to exceed current market expectations.
London focused property group Great Portland Estates has sold its proposed 200,000 sq ft Tooley Street development nearly two years before it is due to be completed.
Johnston Press, the regional newspaper publisher, warned today that there has been no improvement in market conditions over the last few months.
Outboard motor propeller designer Ringprop suspended its shares at 18p today after it conceded it could not solve the structural problems with its latest range.
FTSE 100 - Risers
PartyGaming (PRTY) 119.25p +3.25%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,095.00p +3.11%
Compass Group (CPG) 250.00p +3.09%
Lonmin (LMI) 2,641.00p +2.88%
ITV (ITV) 105.25p +2.68%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,309.00p +2.51%
Rexam (REX) 488.75p +2.46%
Corus Group (CS.) 396.75p +2.19%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 731.50p +2.09%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 397.00p +2.06%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
DSG International (DSGI) 184.75p -4.40%
William Morrison (MRW) 194.75p -1.64%
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Rolls-Royce (RR.) 398.00p -1.61%
Land Securities (LAND) 1,744.00p -1.58%
HBOS (HBOS) 938.50p -1.52%
Friends Provident (FP.) 173.50p -1.14%
Amvescap (AVZ) 471.00p -1.05%
Diageo (DGE) 914.00p -0.98%
WPP (WPP) 634.50p -0.86%
Brambles Industries (BI.) 412.50p -0.84%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hunting (HTG) 395.00p +8.82%
Aquarius Platinum (AQP) 685.00p +5.47%
Expro International (EXR) 677.50p +4.71%
Meggitt (MGGT) 300.75p +3.62%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 332.50p +3.02%
Autonomy (AU.) 387.75p +2.85%
Randgold Resources (RRS) 1,059.00p +2.62%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 322.50p +2.38%
easyJet (EZJ) 382.00p +2.07%
Dimension Data (DDT) 38.25p +2.00%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Wincanton (WIN) 295.00p -5.14%
Candover Investment (CDI) 1,552.00p -4.79%
Workspace Group (WKP) 339.00p -4.51%
Carphone Warehouse (CPW) 319.00p -3.48%
Johnston Press (JPR) 427.25p -3.39%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 1,390.00p -3.34%
Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 463.00p -3.29%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 505.00p -2.88%
Hays (HAS) 147.50p -2.80%
Kier Group (KIE) 1,468.00p -2.78%
