FTSE close: Whitbread and Cadbury up

 

Regular updates to follow throughout the day.

London Stock Exchange

17.00:

The FTSE 100 index closed up 53.7 points at 5,315.3 while the Dow Jones was also in positive territory - up 27.06 points at 10498.56.

Lloyds was one of the top five fallers of the day and was responsible for nearly 50% of the FTSE 100's turnover of shares.

BA only lost 1p today despite the vote to strike over Christmas by cabin crew members.

Standard Chartered topped the risers' board - up 4% at 1,571p while a positive trading update from Whitbread pushed its shares 3.4% higher to 1,375p.

14.45:

The FTSE 100 index was up 55.8 points at 5,317.4.

13.00

Wall Street looks set to open stronger as Abu Dhabi's bailout for Dubai continues to inject confidence in world markets.

'In the near term, it's obviously good news because liquidity issues for Dubai has now passed in the short term,' said Ronan Carr, European equity strategist at Morgan Stanley. 'But the broader issue of government finances being stretched... the risk of fiscal crisis somewhere in the world is a theme that will come and go in the next few years.'

Investors are also a bit jittery about the US Federal Reserve's meeting this Wednesday. No change is expected in rates, but the language used in the statement will be chewed over by markets looking for signposts to the exit.

Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 56 points, helped also by the announcement from Citigroup of a deal to pay back US government funds.

The FTSE 100 index was up 48 points at 5,309.5.

12.00

The FTSE 100 index was up 37.5 points at 5,299.0.

10.15

Standard Chartered - 57p to 1,566.5p - is leading the bounce by British banks in response to the news that Abu Dhabi is bailing out neighbour Dubai with $10bn in aid.

London Stock Exchange shares jumped 48p to 742.5p on the perception that 22% shareholder Borsa Dubai will now come under less pressure to sell its stake, an analyst says.

Shares in online gaming company PartyGaming rise 6.5p to 263p after the Sunday Times reported it is in talks on a tie up with Austria's bwin Interactive, aimed at creating an internet gambling giant.

Sylvania Resources gained more than 4.5p to 44p after the platinum producer raised £10m to pay for ongoing projects and to buy a tailings dump from Lonmin. Evolution Securities repeated its 'buy' rating.

Shares in utility support-services provider Spice fell 9.25p to 61.75p after the firm slid to a first-half pretax loss, prompting Altium Securities to downgrade its rating to 'hold' from 'buy' and cut its full-year earnings forecasts.

Mouchel Group shares soared 43p to 233p after the road-maintenance and government services firm rejected two bids from VT Group. Analyst Andy Brown at Panmure Gordon sees the logic in VT Group making an approach as it is looking to build a broader based presence, and says he would have put the upside in Mouchel at about 250p.

The FTSE 100 index was up 52 points at 5,313.6.

09.00

The FTSE 100 index surged ahead today during an upbeat session for banks and after positive trading updates from Cadbury and Whitbread.

Investors were comforted by developments in Dubai, where the government said it had received £6bn in emergency funds from oil-rich neighbour Abu Dhabi to pay debts owed by its struggling conglomerate.

This gave a lift to banking stocks as the Footsie climbed 51.7 points to 5,313.6 in the first hour of trading.

A strong take-up for shares on offer in the £13.5bn rights issue by Lloyds Banking Group also helped as Royal Bank of Scotland lifted 1.1p to 31.7p and HSBC added 16.6p to 720p.

Leisure group Whitbread was another strong riser after 'outstanding' trading at its coffee business Costa and a revival at Premier Inn led it to forecast profits ahead of City hopes. Shares gained 3%, or 40p to 1370p.

There was also a gain of 4p to 794.5p for Cadbury after the confectionery firm replied to Kraft's hostile takeover bid by upping long-term performance targets.

Outside the top flight, shares in outsourcing firm Mouchel surged 28%, or 52.75p to 242.75p, after it said it had rejected two takeover approaches from VT Group, which rose 2p to 543.5p.