LONDON (ShareCast) - The London market moved higher on Monday as the prospect of a boost for the European economy helped make up for dismal economic news from Japan.
The FTSE 100 Index gained 17.6 points to 6671.97 after European Central Bank president Mario Draghi hinted that quantitative easing could be on the cards to boost the lacklustre Eurozone economy.
Draghi told the European Parliament that further measures "could include further changes to the size and composition of the Eurosystem balance sheet, if warranted, to achieve price stability over the medium term."
The news lifted traders' spirits following news that Japan's economy shrank by 1.6% year over year in the third quarter whenexpectations were for a 2.1% gain.
Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets said: "The fall in Japan's GDP in the third quarter goes some way to explaining the reason for the Bank of Japan's surprise expansion of its QQE programme last month."
The price of US light crude perked up to nearly $76 a barrel and Brent was hovering just below $78, while gold prices had a go at breaking the $1190 threshold despite the positive impact on the US dollar of Draghi's comments, which prompted traders to pile money back into equities.
In a relatively quiet day for corporate news, defensive stocks were on the march, with water and waste group United Utilities gushing 13p to 886.5p and British American Tobacco wafting 48.5p higher to 3707p.
Miners were on the up on the gold price, with silver producer Fresnillo twinkling 16p to 736.5p and Randgold Resources gleaming 65p to 4319p. Platinum producer Anglo American gained 17.5p to 1372.5p and Glencore strengthened 3.4p to 331.75p.
Investors left Majestic Wine's glass half full with a 4p drop to 362p after the drinks retailer said profits took a hit from investment in a bigger distribution hub.
Ground engineering group Keller lost 54.5p to 820p after reporting difficult European markets and weakness in Australia.
Market Movers
techMARK 2,858.68 +0.17%
FTSE 100 6,671.97 +0.26%
FTSE 250 15,648.63 +0.03%
FTSE 100 - Risers
ARM Holdings (ARM) 890.00p +2.42%
Fresnillo (FRES) 736.50p +2.22%
British Sky Broadcasting Group (SKY) 864.00p +1.95%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 229.05p +1.66%
Friends Life Group Limited (FLG) 333.00p +1.59%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,319.00p +1.53%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 886.50p +1.49%
TUI Travel (TT.) 421.20p +1.47%
Pearson (PSON) 1,228.00p +1.40%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,707.00p +1.33%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,047.00p -3.76%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 936.30p -2.25%
IMI (IMI) 1,228.00p -2.23%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 265.70p -1.63%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,596.50p -1.27%
Tesco (TSCO) 192.70p -1.18%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 458.70p -1.10%
BG Group (BG.) 1,035.50p -1.00%
Capita (CPI) 1,057.00p -0.84%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,581.00p -0.82%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,196.00p +5.93%
RPS Group (RPS) 240.00p +3.09%
Hunting (HTG) 710.50p +2.97%
Evraz (EVR) 137.80p +2.53%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 307.70p +2.46%
Synthomer (SYNT) 201.00p +2.29%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 809.00p +2.21%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,036.00p +2.07%
Bellway (BWY) 1,783.00p +2.06%
PayPoint (PAY) 948.00p +1.94%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Fenner (FENR) 268.00p -7.04%
Keller Group (KLR) 820.00p -6.23%
Mitie Group (MTO) 276.70p -4.98%
Foxtons Group (FOXT) 153.00p -4.91%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,098.00p -4.27%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 638.50p -2.82%
Rotork (ROR) 2,347.00p -2.25%
EnQuest (ENQ) 65.95p -2.22%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 421.90p -2.20%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 68.45p -2.07%
FTSE TechMARK - Risers
Triad Group (TRD) 18.00p +12.50%
Puricore (PURI) 31.50p +5.00%
Sepura (SEPU) 133.75p +1.33%
Promethean World (PRW) 24.75p +1.02%
Skyepharma (SKP) 335.00p +0.90%
E2V Technologies (E2V) 172.50p +0.88%
Dialight (DIA) 825.00p +0.79%
Vectura Group (VEC) 122.00p +0.62%
Innovation Group (TIG) 26.50p +0.47%
Anite (AIE) 85.00p +0.29%
FTSE TechMARK - Fallers
CML Microsystems (CML) 260.00p -10.34%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,400.00p -4.04%
Kofax Limited (DI) (KFX) 395.00p -2.77%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 4.30p -2.27%
SDL (SDL) 389.25p -1.21%
Gresham Computing (GHT) 78.00p -0.64%
KCOM Group (KCOM) 90.25p -0.55%
Consort Medical (CSRT) 755.00p -0.53%
Optos (OPTS) 205.00p -0.49%
Ricardo (RCDO) 626.00p -0.24%
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