LONDON (ShareCast) - A successful Spanish bond auction and some uplifting confidence data helped lift sentiment and boost the Footsie to its highest level of the day by the close. After trading within a narrow range for the majority of the day, the blue chip index rocketed in afternoon trading, tracking US markets higher following some positive housing data stateside which sent Wall Street indices surging over 2%.

The Spanish Treasury issued over €5.6bn in 3 and 6 month bills in its last auction of 2011, more than was expected. Yields were well below the previous auction.

Meanwhile, Germany's Ifo “business climate” index rose from 106.6 in November to 107.2 in December. The market expected a reading of around 106.1, or even less.

While in domestic news, the Nationwide consumer confidence index for the UK rose to the 40 point level in November, from 36 the month before. The market consensus had been expecting a further drop to 34 points.

In other news, in the late afternoon, UK Treasury Minister Danny Alexander announced that the government has reached a tentative deal on pension reform with most public sector unions, which should ease fears of further strike action. "I am pleased to report to the House that heads of agreement have now been established with most unions in the local government, health, civil service and teachers schemes," Alexander told parliament.

AGGREKO EXTENDS GAINS, SVG CAPITAL ROCKETS

Temporary power supplier Aggreko was leading the gains on the FTSE 100 on Tuesday, as investors continue to celebrate yesterday's news that full-year profits should come in slightly ahead of previous guidance.

Private equity firm SVG Capital jumped over 20% after revealing that it return up to £170m to shareholders via share buy-backs and tender offers as part of a new investment strategy.

On the downside, pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline were the heavy fallers on the Footsie. AstraZeneca warned this morning that earnings will come in at the lower end of expectations after it took a $381.5m hit from failed drug tests. As a result of the impairments, the company's core earnings per share for the full-year are likely to come at the bottom end of forecasts.

Meanwhile, Glaxo joined its peers in the red despite announcing that it is to return £242m to shareholders next year after the sale of its non-core Consumer Healthcare OTC brands in the US and Canada for £426m.

Cruise operator Carnival was lower after income before tax slipped to $209m from $255m in the three months to end of November. Nevertheless, evenues rose from $3.5bn to $3.7bn while fourth quarter net revenue yields in constant dollars increased 1.5% compared to the prior year, in line with the September guidance of a rise of between 1.0% and 2.0%

SMALL CAP MOVERS

Shares in Indian investment firm Dhir rocketed over 140% after the company revealed it is considering a number of options to unlock the value in the company, including acceptance of a cash offer from company director Alok Dhir.

Engineering consultant WSP rose 23% after announcing that it has signed a new credit facility as trading for the year ending 31 December 2011 continues in line with company forecasts.

Berkeley Mineral Resources, the Zambia-focused minerals company, has seen its share price shoot up 8% this morning after announcing it has bought an option on stockpiles of copper tailings located in the Chingola area in the north of the country.

Shares in Silvermere, an independent oil and gas company, dived 30% after the firm announced a delay in production plans for the I-1 Well on its Mustang Island asset located in Texas waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Aggreko (AGK) 1,970.00p +6.60%
ITV (ITV) 64.15p +5.25%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 886.50p +4.17%
Admiral Group (ADM) 833.00p +4.12%
Meggitt (MGGT) 350.30p +3.85%
Wolseley (WOS) 2,009.00p +3.82%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,991.00p +3.81%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,347.00p +3.70%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 576.00p +3.69%
Man Group (EMG) 128.20p +3.55%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
AstraZeneca (AZN) 2,905.00p -1.49%
Essar Energy (ESSR) 178.00p -1.39%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,093.00p -0.64%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,445.00p -0.34%
Carnival (CCL) 2,130.00p -0.28%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,964.50p -0.27%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,176.00p -0.25%
Diageo (DGE) 1,351.50p -0.18%
SSE (SSE) 1,243.00p -0.16%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 174.30p -0.11%

FTSE 250 - Risers
SVG Capital (SVI) 200.00p +21.14%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 167.30p +6.90%
New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 437.50p +6.86%
SDL (SDL) 650.00p +4.84%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 260.30p +4.75%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 101.80p +4.68%
Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 208.00p +4.52%
UBM (UBM) 467.50p +4.35%
Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 16.40p +4.19%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 646.00p +4.11%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Carpetright (CPR) 459.10p -9.36%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 606.00p -6.19%
Genus (GNS) 1,015.00p -3.79%
Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 250.00p -3.29%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 57.40p -3.04%
Kenmare Resources (KMR) 39.02p -3.01%
Drax Group (DRX) 523.00p -2.43%
Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 37.55p -1.88%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 758.50p -1.88%
KCOM Group (KCOM) 65.75p -1.87%

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