London close: Footsie finishes with a flourish
London's benchmark index moved ahead thanks to strong performance from the electricity and mining sectors, while a bullish start on Wall Street provided stocks with a late flourish.
US stocks surged in opening deals as the Dow topped 100-points, as tumbling oil prices, currently down $1.60, buoyed investors.
Back in London, chemicals group ICI surged ahead just before market close on rumours of possible bid interest from Dow Chemical.
Centrica, International Power and Severn Trent were all ahead after German group E.ON dropped its bid for Spanish group Endesa. Traders suggest it could prompt E.ON to look elsewhere for a deal, possibly the UK.
Severn Trent says that process improvements are expected to result in staffing levels in Severn Trent Water being reduced by around 600 posts over the next five years. Severn added it has delivered a trading performance last year consistent with its expectations.
Miners adid well, led by Kazakhmys, Lonmin and Xstrata on better copper prices, while credit checking firm Experian is up again in sympathy with the offer for rival First Data yesterday.
Confectionery giant Cadbury Schweppes rallied after JP Morgan lifted the shares to 'neutral' from 'underweight' as it assessed the firm's break-up plans.
Life group Resolution says embedded value per share rose by 18% to 613p in 2006, reflecting the benefit of the acquisition of Abbey's life businesses and a strong performance across all its businesses.
Car and bicycle products retailer Halfords expects to report a full year pre-tax profit in line with market expectations, it said Tuesday, adding that underlying like-for-like sales growth for the year was 5.3%.
Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury's profits crashed to £5.2m in 2006 from £20.1m in 2005, as expected, on turnover of £74.8m versus £109.1m last time.
Mobile satellite services provider Inmarsat is top of the second liners as Merrill Lynch said 'buy' and added the shares to its 'Europe 1' list following last month's news that it is financing a bid for Canada's Stratos Global, which will give earnings a lift from 2010.
Strategic Thought said it has seen a recovery in its performance and closed more ARM deals than last year, though it was still slower than anticipated due to delays.
Coach operator Tellings Golden Miller slipped into the red in a year that saw a major reshaping of the business after the sale of its bus division in 2005, but a upbeat statement with the figures sent the shares motoring higher.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) 539.75p +7.09%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,995.00p +3.70%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,196.00p +3.55%
Xstrata (XTA) 2,684.00p +3.39%
Wolseley (WOS) 1,244.00p +3.24%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,385.00p +3.20%
Scottish and Newcastle (SCTN) 605.50p +2.71%
International Power (IPR) 411.25p +2.68%
BHP Billiton plc (BLT) 1,159.00p +2.66%
Lonmin (LMI) 3,340.00p +2.30%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 651.00p -0.76%
Drax (DRX) 782.50p -0.63%
Land Securities (LAND) 2,161.00p -0.60%
DSG International (DSGI) 170.00p -0.58%
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SABMiller (SAB) 1,117.00p -0.53%
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) 1,980.00p -0.40%
Imperial Tobacco (IMT) 2,271.00p -0.39%
Hammerson (HMSO) 1,723.00p -0.35%
Whitbread (WTB) 1,909.00p -0.31%
Alliance Boots (AB.) 1,026.00p -0.29%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hochschild Mining PLC Ord 50p (WI) (HOC) 368.00p +10.68%
UK Coal (UKC) 592.50p +5.90%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 297.00p +5.32%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 404.50p +5.06%
Morgan Sindall (MGNS) 1,328.00p +4.40%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 159.25p +3.75%
TNS (TNN) 237.50p +3.71%
Randgold Resources (RRS) 1,266.00p +3.43%
Aggreko (AGK) 528.25p +3.38%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 299.00p +3.19%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Findel (FDL) 683.50p -2.91%
EMI (EMI) 223.50p -2.08%
JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 298.00p -1.97%
N Brown (BWNG) 321.00p -1.23%
Shanks (SKS) 270.00p -1.19%
Aegis Group (AGS) 149.50p -1.16%
First Choice (FCD) 282.00p -1.14%
Crest Nicholson (CRST) 615.50p -1.12%
Headlam Group (HEAD) 592.50p -1.09%
Countrywide (CWD) 597.00p -1.08%
