London close: Top stocks post good gains
London's top stocks finished with good gains as miners littered the risers while a strong start on Wall Street also helped sentiment.
Chilean copper giant Antofagasta forecast copper prices would remain historically high well into 2008. It also expects 2007 to be another good year for the group with good operational performances supported by favourable market conditions and a sound balance sheet.
Xstrata added ground after Citigroup kept the shares as a 'buy' and raised its price target to 3,500p from 3,000p. Rio Tinto remains a 'buy' at ABN Amro, while other miners including Lonmin, Vedanta Resources and BHP Billiton posted gains.
Insurer Royal & Sun Alliance rallied on talk that American Insurance Group is mulling a bid, while supermarket chain J Sainsbury was a big mover on speculation that a Qatari investment bank was looking to raise its stake in the group.
Mortgage bank Alliance & Leicester also improved after it predicted profits this year will be at the top end of the £571m - £608m range of forecasts. Revenue growth rate in the first half of 2007 is expected to be significantly higher than that achieved in similar periods in recent years. Prime residential net mortgage lending was around £1bn, a 3.9% share of the UK total mortgage market.
Pub and restaurant operator Mitchells & Butlers found friends as JP Morgan lifted its stance on the shares to 'neutral' from 'underweight' with price target up to 850p from 640p.
But on the downside, utilities are out of favour, with Kelda, United Utilities and Severn Trent in the red.
Fallers also include a smattering of ex-dividend stocks. Johnson Matthey, Cable & Wireless and Kesa are all trading without the last dividend.
Away from the blue chips, property group Quintain Estates posted a 25.5% rise in year net asset value per share, adding it is confident of prospects going forward. The group, which is regenerating the area around the new Wembley stadium, said NAV rose to 660p per share in the year to end-March, versus 526p a year ago.
Pinewood Shepperton says that as a result of timing delays in new productions, reported film revenues for 2007 are likely to be flat year-on-year and overall group revenues are expected to show only a small year-on-year increase. Growth in television revenues is expected to come through in the second half, it said
Virtual telecoms network Vanco received a boost as it signed a series of contracts with a total value of £9.7m.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Antofagasta (ANTO) 594.50p +4.94%
Xstrata (XTA) 3,007.00p +4.81%
Lonmin (LMI) 3,931.00p +4.77%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,721.00p +4.52%
Royal & Sun Alliance (RSA) 155.90p +3.66%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,528.00p +3.52%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,039.00p +2.98%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,325.00p +2.63%
Experian (EXPN) 616.00p +2.33%
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 710.50p +2.23%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,658.00p -2.18%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,232.00p -1.75%
Kelda (KEL) 948.50p -1.40%
International Power (IPR) 428.50p -1.38%
HBOS (HBOS) 1,019.00p -1.16%
(Article continues below)Advertisement
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,478.00p -1.00%
Astrazeneca (AZN) 2,596.00p -0.99%
Scottish & Newcastle (SCTN) 618.00p -0.96%
Shire (SHP) 1,155.00p -0.94%
ITV (ITV) 113.00p -0.88%
FTSE 250 - Risers
ARM Holdings (ARM) 140.75p +4.65%
Quintain Estate (QED) 800.00p +4.58%
Beazley Group (BEZ) 144.00p +3.78%
Tomkins (TOMK) 264.75p +3.42%
Merrill Lynch World Mining Trust (MLW) 591.00p +3.14%
Charter (CHTR) 1,010.00p +2.96%
N Brown Group (BWNG) 325.00p +2.69%
FKI (FKI) 126.75p +2.63%
Premier Farnell (PFL) 207.75p +2.59%
CSR (CSR) 744.50p +2.41%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Debenhams (DEB) 138.25p -3.83%
Kesa Electricals (KESA) 321.75p -3.09%
Speedy Hire (SDY) 1,240.00p -2.82%
Kier Group (KIE) 2,141.00p -2.64%
Unite Group (UTG) 439.50p -2.55%
St Modwen Property (SMP) 621.50p -2.43%
Biffa (BIFF) 286.00p -2.39%
Helical Bar (HLCL) 430.50p -2.38%
Rathbone Bros (RAT) 1,295.00p -2.34%
WH Smith (SMWH) 408.25p -2.22%
