FTSE close: BP up; Lloyds, RBS down

By Adrian Lowery
Updated: 13:05 EDT, 27 October 2009

BP's better-than-expected results today lifted the oil giant and indeed the wider Footsie.

The FTSE 100 index closed 9.23 points higher at 5,200.9, after a positive start on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones was last 27.5 higher at 9,895.5.

The Footsie has gained 50% since touching a six-year trough in March and is has risen for each of the last four months, the longest such winning streak since 2006.

'These are markets that are not necessarily to be trusted,' said Howard Wheeldon, strategist at BGC Partners. 'There is a degree of uncertainty out there, but nothing this morning has yet so far upset the applecart.'

BP gained 27.3p to 594.4p after it posted a 50% fall in third quarter profits to $4.98bn (£3bn) compared to the same period last year as the much reduced oil price took its toll. But this was ahead of analysts' expectations by a wide margin. Royal Dutch Shell, which is also set to reveal its third quarter results this week, gained 38.5p to 1890.5p.

Banks were the biggest drag on the index, with Royal Bank of Scotland the worst performer, down 8% or 3.62p to 40.8p.

Investors were unsettled after fears mounted on Monday that Lloyds Banking Group and RBS would be ordered into disposals by the European Commission after Dutch peer ING announced it would split into two and launch a €7.5bn rights issue.

Lloyds was down 5.5p to 83.84p. Barclays, which has gone of tapping middle eastern investors - has been caught up in the slump, and is 12.8p lower at 339.7p

Publishing group Reed Elsevier was a top Footsie gainer, adding 15.2p to 473p after Exane BNP Paribas raised the stock to 'outperform' from 'neutral' and upped its stance on the European media sector to "outperform'.

In the FTSE 250 directories group Yell took the top spot on the fallers' board after it gave lenders a further two days to approve its debt restructuring plans. Shares lost almost 10% in early trading but later regained momentum to close 0.5p up at 52.5p.

The biggest gain in the second-tier was achieved by department store chain Debenhams, which climbed 2.75p to 84.35p after Barclays Capital started its coverage with a target price of 100p.

Argos owner Home Retail Group was a beneficiary of the same note, with shares up 8.1p to 306.7p after Barclays set a target price of 355p.

Meanwhile, Punch Taverns shares fell 4.25% or 3.85p to 86.65p after broker Credit Suisse cut its price target to 146p from 177p, despite last week's favourable OFT decision on beer ties.

Shares in Aim-listed Griffin Mining rose 3p to 39.75p after the company said its application to mine further down at the Caijiaying zinc-gold mine, near Beijing, has been accepted and may be approved within a month.

'As they go deeper underground I think we should see more gold coming through in terms of production,' says Asa Bridle, an analyst at Seymour Pierce, maintaining a 'hold' recommendation on Griffin.

Meanwhile, small cap Ormonde Mining - also on Aim - soared 24% or 1.63p to 8.38p after it announced a joint venture with Antofagasta on Ormonde's La Zarza ground holdings in the Huelva Province of southern Spain.

'The combination of improving metal prices and Antofagasta wanting to look at assets away from its traditional base in Chile has made a nice combination, so it will be interesting to see what results come through,' Bridle says.