London close: Footsie ends on a high
Top shares closed with strong gains as resource stocks provided a lift while a positive start on Wall Street lent further support.
Wall Street moved ahead as comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and President Bush calmed fears about the credit market. Bernanke said the central bank will act if the economy got worse but added that it will not help investors that have made poor decision.
Back in London, miners finished in sparkling fashion. Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Vedanta Resources and Kazakhmys were well placed as metal prices gained following strong US GDP data released yesterday.
Oil stocks were helped by the news alongside supply concerns, with Shell and BP posting strong gains. BG has also been boosted by an upgrade to "buy" from "neutral" at UBS with its price target raised to 925p from 900p following an adjustment to estimates for the firm's oil and gas reserves.
Fallers generally showed only small losses. Home Retail slipped down but Cadbury Schweppes cancelled its earlier deficit that followed a Lehman Brothers downgrade to "equal-weight" from "overweight".
Aero enginer maker Rolls-Royce was lifted by news of a contract win with Singapore's Tiger Airways, while sugar manufacturer Tate & Lyle and fashion retailer Next also found support.
Aerospace and defence group Cobham took off as JP Morgan repeated its 'overweight' rating despite cutting its target price as it believes the market storm creates more opportunities than risks.
Elsewhere, travel group Thomas Cook's financial performance for the full year 2007 will be in line with its expectations. "While the recovery in the UK in summer 2007 has not been as strong as we had expected, we anticipate that Northern Europe and Airlines Germany will exceed our expectations," it said.
Magners cider group C&C says turnover for the six months to 31 August 2007 is expected to be flat while operating margin is expected to decline by approximately nine percentage points for the same period.
Property website Rightmove reported profit before tax from continuing operations for the six months to 30 June up to £12.13m from £6.29m a year ago, while underlying operating profit leapt 60% to £13.18m. The group is confident about the company's prospects for the second half of the year. Revenue soared 68%.
Home emergency services firm Homeserve went well on news it is expanding its US presence by hooking up with Ohio-based FirstEnergy Solutions to sell home emergency policies in New Jersey.
Timan shares shot up after the exploration firm said Rosprirodnadzor, the Russian Federal agency responsible for natural resources, did not find any breaches of licence by its Russian subsidiaries.
Oil services group Sondex admitted it is in talks that may lead to an offer being made for the group, sending its shares up almost 19% Friday.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,763.00p +4.38%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,430.00p +3.72%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,241.00p +3.22%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 286.25p +3.15%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 564.50p +3.11%
Standard Life (SL.) 300.25p +3.00%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 928.50p +2.82%
Barclays (BARC) 613.50p +2.68%
Experian Group (EXPN) 523.00p +2.65%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,844.00p +2.63%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Home Retail Group (HOME) 414.25p -1.07%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 712.50p -0.77%
Capita Group (CPI) 750.50p -0.53%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,157.00p -0.52%
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Schroders Nv (SDRC) 1,143.00p -0.26%
ICAP (IAP) 488.00p -0.20%
Pearson (PSON) 745.00p -0.20%
Resolution (RSL) 618.50p -0.16%
International Power (IPR) 404.50p -0.12%
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) 634.00p -0.08%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Detica Group (DCA) 314.50p +6.61%
Wincanton (WIN) 383.00p +5.95%
Filtrona PLC (FLTR) 239.00p +5.75%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,339.00p +5.52%
Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) 345.75p +5.41%
National Express Group (NEX) 1,254.00p +5.38%
Meggitt (MGGT) 318.25p +5.21%
Charter (CHTR) 1,115.00p +5.19%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 303.50p +4.75%
Cobham (COB) 201.00p +4.55%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 540.00p -4.34%
Pendragon (PDG) 75.75p -2.26%
Croda International (CRDA) 660.00p -1.86%
UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 90.00p -1.10%
John Wood Group (WG.) 361.50p -1.09%
Invista Foundation Property Trust (IFD) 119.75p -0.83%
F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 194.75p -0.76%
F&C Commercial Property Trust (FCPT) 129.00p -0.58%
Catlin Group (CGL) 485.50p -0.56%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 552.00p -0.54%
