US Edition A day after the FTSE 100 took its biggest tumble in almost two months, it was positively serene at Paternoster Square. This was despite new figures highlighting an accelerating collapse in UK car production and the biggest quarterly fall in manufacturing output since records began in 1955 – not to mention the shockwaves from another bank collapse across the pond.
Aside from a few minutes early in the morning and mid afternoon, the blue-chip index spent the day in positive territory, closing 19.82 points higher at 4365.29 – a 0.46pc rise.
The mining sector, after falling almost 6pc in a torrid day of trading on Thursday, bounced back, with sentiment bolstered by broadly upbeat research from analysts at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse.
Credit Suisse increased its target prices on a string of major mining companies, with analyst Eily Ong citing "improved investor risk appetite driven by global industrial production momentum".
Four of the 10 biggest gainers in the blue-chip index were miners, with Fresnillo, the world's largest silver producer, top of the pops, up 50 to 690p – an 8pc rise. Kazakhmys was close behind, climbing 39 to 682½p, after Goldman Sachs upgraded the company from "neutral" to "buy". Lonmin, too, enjoyed a day of strong gains, up 49p to £13.28.
In the financials, Icap bounced back after two days in the doldrums, which saw it tumble 13pc. The fall followed news on Wednesday that IPGL, the private holding company of the inter-dealer broker's founder and chief executive Michael Spencer, had sold 10pc of its stake in Icap, selling out for what was then a discount price of 390p.
Shares in Icap jumped almost 6pc, up 21 to 388¼p. Justin Bates, an analyst at Daniel Stewart & Co, said Icap had "engineered itself a market-leading position" in electronic broking and post-trade services, a move that now appeared "visionary" given likely regulatory reforms affecting the trading of over-the-counter financial products – Icap's market.
It was a mixed day elsewhere in the sector, with investors reserving judgment on the Treasury's decision not to release the results of stress tests carried out by the Financial Services Authority earlier this year.
Royal Bank of Scotland – which confirmed that Sir Sandy Crombie, the Standard Life chief executive, was to join its board – and Lloyds Banking Group, the two largely nationalised lending giants, both gained, up 1 to 40.9p and 1.9 to 68.6p respectively. Nic Clarke, an analyst with Charles Stanley, said Lloyds' outlook had improved in recent weeks, with the threat of full nationalisation receding.
HSBC slipped 4 to 536½p after management said at the group's annual meeting that while business would remain challenging through much of 2010, it intended to continue paying quarterly dividends.
Barclays was up 2¼ to 286¾p on speculation that it was looking to sell Barclays Global Investors, its entire asset management arm, and not just exchange-traded fund subsidiary iShares, if it could fetch a price nearing $12bn (£7.56bn).
On the losers' board, British Airways predictably tumbled 6.1 to 156.7p – the worst performing blue-chip company for the session – after posting the biggest full-year loss in the group's history. Investors in other travel companies were muted, however, in their response. Tui Travel slipped just ¼ to 257¾p, with the fall possibly mitigated by UBS analysts increasing their price target on Tui from 210 to 250p.
Stamatis Draziotis and Jonathan Leinster said in a note that Tui's earnings growth this year was "well underpinned" by the scale of available capacity and cost-cutting measures. "However, we believe FY10 (the 2010 financial year) is less certain, particularly if the level of unemployment keeps rising," they said.
In the mid-cap index, easyJet, which is not exposed to the more volatile premium market, escaped the malaise affecting its blue-chip rival, climbing 1½ to 306½p.
Elsewhere in the index, Sports Direct enjoyed a day in the sun after several weeks with little volatility, climbing 6¼ to 80p. Inchcape fared among the worst, down 1 to 17¾ after the company revealed that Barbara Richmond, the finance director, was leaving "by mutual consent to pursue other interests".
The FTSE 250 climbed 29.1 points to 7541.47 – a 0.39pc rise. Stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 38.4 points firmer in late trading at 8,330.53 points, a 0.46pc increase.
Back in London, Aim-listed Next Fifteen Communications, the public relations firm, fell heavily after management said it had ended talks with main-market counterparts Huntsworth and Chime Communications – who had both approached it earlier this month with a view to buying it out – on the grounds that remaining independent would better serve the business and shareholders' interests.
In a statement, Next Fifteen said it terminated talks "before any of the parties involved undertook any due diligence or reached any definitive agreement". Shares in the group tumbled more than 15pc, down 8½ to 46p. Chime shares fared better, climbing ½ to 96p, while Huntsworth was steady at 57½p.