London close: Footsie ends on a high
London stocks have ended with solid gains as a good start on Wall Street helped push Footsie out of the doldrums.
Oil majors were the best performers of the day. Royal Dutch Shell was ahead thanks to a UBS upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' with price target kept at 2,300p. Fellow oil stocks BG Group and BP also posted strong gains.
Kazakhmys was among the risers after reporting a 24% rise in first half pre-tax profit and announcing a special dividend of 50 cents a share alongside news of a further share buyback.
Other miners were under pressure at the start of the day but Xstrata and Rio Tinto pushed into the blue though Antofagasta remained in the red.
Drugmaker Shire fell after it withdrew a small number of its attention deficit hyperactivity disorder skin patches as some users find it difficult to remove them.
Hammerson saw adjusted net asset value per share rise by 9% to £16.35 in the first half and said the medium-term outlook for real estate markets in the UK and France remains favourable. But a 4.4% drop in profit before tax for the six months to 30 June and a Citigroup price target downgrade to 1,400p from 1,800p hurt the shares somewhat.
Liberty International was also lower after JP Morgan cut the stock to 'underweight' from 'neutral'.
Mortgage lender Alliance & Leicester said that current conditions in the funding and liquidity markets have had no material impact on either profits or franchise growth.
Lloyds TSB was hampered by a Merrill Lynch downgrade to "neutral" from "buy" after the broker adopted a more cautious approach to the bank's wholesale business.
Life group Standard Life's first half profits came in ahead of forecasts as operating profits rose by 71% to £353m driven by margins rising to 1.8% and bumper sales. The new business contribution for the first half was £151m, up by 66%. The interim dividend is up by an equivalent 5.6%.
A strong international performance and a recovery in the UK & Ireland in the second half lifted full year profits at recruitment specialist Hays, though shares still fell into the red.
Brewer and pub owner Greene King's profit expectations for the full year remain unchanged, despite the recent unseasonal weather and smoking ban. Like for like sales for the 17 weeks to 26 August across the two managed pub divisions were slightly ahead of last year and up 2% on an underlying basis.
Oil explorer Soco International says early indications from drilling at its Vietnamese TGD-1X prospect suggest it could have encountered the biggest discovery in the company's history.
Tullow Oil claims its recent Ghana discovery may contain recoverable reserves in excess of 1.3bn barrels. Net income in the first half of the year fell to £36.6m from £95.4m hit by a tough market for North Sea gas.
Lofty food prices are set to move higher still as wheat prices soar, according to Hovis bread group Premier Foods, which saw first half profits halve during the first six months.
Tomb Raider computer game publisher Sci Entertainment has confirmed it has received a bid approach, while Cozart reached its highest point in almost three years after it revealed it is discussions with a potential buyer.
Office products supplier Office2office gained on news that first-half pre-tax profit rose to £6m from £5.7m alongside a bullish outlook for the rest of the year.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,979.00p +3.02%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,985.00p +2.90%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 429.50p +2.63%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,333.00p +2.62%
BG Group (BG.) 800.50p +2.43%
ICAP (IAP) 513.00p +2.40%
Tesco (TSCO) 437.00p +2.40%
Man Group (EMG) 508.00p +2.21%
Resolution (RSL) 633.50p +2.18%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 173.20p +2.12%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Northern Rock (NRK) 732.00p -1.21%
Liberty International (LII) 1,183.00p -1.17%
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Shire (SHP) 1,295.00p -1.15%
Schroders (SDR) 1,332.00p -1.04%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,146.00p -0.95%
BAE Systems (BA.) 460.00p -0.76%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 712.50p -0.70%
Compass Group (CPG) 328.00p -0.68%
Pearson (PSON) 749.50p -0.66%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 709.50p -0.63%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Soco International (SIA) 2,165.00p +7.34%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 547.00p +6.63%
CSR (CSR) 692.00p +5.49%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 158.25p +5.32%
Axon Group (AXO) 795.00p +5.30%
ITE Group (ITE) 180.50p +5.25%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 556.00p +5.10%
Northern Foods (NFDS) 107.00p +4.90%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 245.25p +4.70%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,380.00p +4.47%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Greggs (GRG) 5,050.00p -4.46%
QXL Ricardo (QXL) 1,070.00p -4.46%
Brit Insurance Holding (BRE) 344.00p -2.82%
Hays (HAS) 156.50p -2.49%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 138.75p -2.12%
TUI Travel (TT.) 279.50p -2.10%
Petrofac Ld (PFC) 461.25p -2.02%
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) 383.75p -1.73%
Dimension Data Holdings (DDT) 57.00p -1.72%
John Wood Group (WG.) 370.00p -1.53%
