FTSE close: Footsie buoyed by upbeat Wall St
Energy and mining stocks led the Footsie on a charge today, inspired by the reporting season on Wall St, which has kicked off with upbeat news.
Keeping a close eye: We round up the key trading news throughout the day
The FTSE 100 gained 108.78 points to 4346.46 as, despite some terrible UK unemployment figures released today, optimism returned to world markets that we might be out of the woods.
The Dow Jones industrial average opened up 128.6 points at 8,488.04 after better-than-expected second-quarter earnings news from Intel followed that from Goldman Sachs last night. Investors will now keenly await news this week from the other big US banks, Citigroup and Bank of America.
There is still plenty of caution in world markets though, says Howard Wheeldon, strategist at BGC Partners: 'Volumes remain pedestrian ... and because of the results in the US we forget the long-term realities of the economic difficulties we're still facing in this country.'
Oil stocks drove the Footsie higher, as crude crept back above the $60 mark and Nigerian rebels declared a 60-day cease-fire in its local campaign targeting oil and gas installations.
Tullow Oil was 43.5p higher at 934.5p as it announced its Jubilee field phase 1 development plan had been formally approved by the minister of energy in Ghana.
Cairn Energy was 51p up at 2,270p and BG Group was 33p up at 1,036p.
Mining stocks were once again in the spotlight after Rio Tinto published production figures showing better than expected performances in iron ore, coal and copper.
Rio Tinto added 85p to 2104.5p, Xstrata lifted 51.7p to 666p, Kazakhmys gained 38p to 678.5p, and Fresnillo jumped 28p to 561p.
Property firms enjoyed a revival after Land Securities reported 'growing investor interest' in prime and mid-sized sites. Although prices are still falling, the company is more confident that valuations will not exceed the 45%-50% drop assumed in February.
The news prompted KBC Peel Hunt to raise its recommendation to 'buy' from 'hold' and Land shares climbed 22.5p to 462.75p, while Hammerson was ahead 2.75% or 8p to 299.75p and British Land added 9p to 383p.
Insurers were also closely watched amid further speculation about bid activity in the insurance sector. RSA Insurance - seen as a possible target for Italy's Generali - rose nearly 2% or 2.20p to 119.8p.
Meanwhile the effects of Goldman's expectations-beating record $13.8bn (£8.5bn) revenues continued to reverberate as both Barclays and HSBC were on the risers board with gains of 13.3p to 313.3p and 20.20p to 531p respectively.
Retailer Next saw gains after Deutsche Bank said pressure on the clothing sector had been smaller than expected, helping Next stabilise its sales. Shares rallied nearly 4% or 57p to 1667p after Deutsche moved its rating from hold to buy.
Rival Marks & Spencer moved in the opposite direction, down 1.25p to 322p, and Argos owner Home Retail Group dipped 1.5p to 276p before recovering 2.50p to 280p.
Icap, the world's largest interdealer broker, was the Footsie's top faller, off 12.25p to 430.75p, after going ex-dividend, but its losses were tempered as it posted a 10% rise in revenue for the period between April and June.
BT Group dropped 1.4p to 103.6p before recovering 0.40p to 105.40 as it braced itself for a battle with Britain's pensions regulator over shortfalls in its pension scheme - the country's biggest private sector fund.
Elsewhere Burberry fell 6.25p to 420.5p before closing up 0.25p to 427p after it reported flat comparable sales in the first quarter as a strong performance in Europe and Asia was offset by weakness elsewhere.
Also in the FTSE 250, pubs chain JD Wetherspoon gained after reporting an 'encouraging' recent sales performance, with like-for-like sales up by 2% in the past five weeks and by 1.2% in the 50 weeks to July 12. Shares were down 0.50p to 428.50p.
Northern Foods cheered nearly 13% or 7p to 62p after it reported a 5.5% rise in first quarter sales, helped by strong demand for salads and sandwiches.
TOMORROW'S AGENDA
• Enterprise Inns is providing investors with a third-quarter trading update. The pub company is likely to stress its commitment to tenants as it tries to fend off an investigation into the industry by the Competition Commission. When Enterprise last reported in May, sunny weather had been keeping business ticking over.
This week, broker Numis said that it expects enterprise to repay debt through cash flow alone, and won't need to bolster its books with a rights issue. the bank forecasts a pre-tax profit of £218 million for the year on sales of £810m.
• Two big retail names are updating the market. Mothercare, the clothes and toys chain for babies and children, posts a first-quarter trading update. Cheap sportswear specialist Sports Direct publishes its preliminary results, which will put founder Mike Ashley in the headlines again. His loan to Sir David Jones, chairman of rival JJB Sports, may fade in importance as shareholders discover the truth behind rumours the dividend could be scrapped.
• Fund manager BlueBay Asset Management is posting a trading update. UBS expects that the firm is doing well. It said: 'BlueBay has benefited from strong inflows. The BlueBay investment Grade Bond Fund was the highest-selling fund across the whole of UK and Europe in the four months to April.'
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