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FTSE gains 1 pct driven by strong commds, banks
Source: Agencies |
April 10, 2010, Saturday
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BRITAIN'S leading shares gained 1 percent on Yesterday, driven higher by a bounce back from heavyweight commodity issues and banks as hopes for a sustained economic recovery picked up.
At the close, the FTSE 100 was up 58.28 points at 5,770.98, recovering all of Thursday's 0.9 percent fall, which had been the biggest single-day decline for six weeks.
"It's just the ebb and flow of a thinly traded market after the Easter holidays," said Mic Mills, senior trader at ETX Capital. Traded volume on Yesterday was only 60 percent of the 90-day average volume.
"We're going to be poll dancing for the next few weeks as the markets dither about the outcome of the British election, and this will create opportunities for some."
On Wall Street, US blue chips were 0.5 percent higher by London's close, extending Thursday's gains after top US retail chains posted a record rise in monthly same-store sales for March.
Thursday's US data heightened hopes for a sustained economic recovery, lifting commodity prices as the dollar weakened and the demand outlook improved.
Miners were the top blue-chip performers in London, with Fresnillo, Xstrata, Anglo American AAL.L, Lonmin, and BHP Billiton up 1.5 to 3.5 percent.
Xstrata has approached one of the major shareholders of Macarthur Coal, according to the Australian firm, which has already rejected two separate takeover approaches in the past week. Xstrata declined to comment.
Oil majors also benefited from the improved demand sentiment, although crude prices slipped back below $85 a barrel.
Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group, BP, Tullow Oil and Cairn Energy added 0.6 to 1.9 percent.
Banks, which tend to benefit as the economic outlook improves, were also a strong source of support for the FTSE 100 index, bouncing back after sharp falls on Thursday.
Speculation that Greece was closer to tapping the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to help repay its ballooning debt also helped sentiment.
But this was countered by a move from agency Fitch to cut its credit rating for Greece by two notches.
HSBC, Standard Chartered, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group gained 0.5 to 2.5 percent.
Buyout firm Blackstone and charity group The Wellcome Trust have launched a joint bid for bank branches being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland, a source familiar with the matter said on Yesterday.
Barclays, however, bucked the brighter trend, falling 0.2 percent ahead of any news from a hearing in New York in the long-running court case concerning its takeover of Lehman's North American business.
ASIAN AVIVA
Insurer Aviva was also a strong riser, up 2.3 percent after it said it would re-enter the Asian general insurance market five years after selling its non-life operations there, with Singapore becoming its first market in the region.
Peers Standard Life and Prudential gained 0.5 and 2 percent, respectively.
But other financial groups were weak, with specialist investment bank Investec, which only recently joined the FTSE 100 index, losing 0.6 percent, while fund manager Schroders saw its non-voting shares drop 1.3 percent.
Defensively perceived drug and tobacco stocks were the main blue-chip fallers, with AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline down 0.3 and 0.4 percent, while British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco shed 0.2 and 0.4 percent.
British factory gate inflation rose in March at its fastest pace in 16 months, driven by a surge in the cost of oil and imported goods, official data showed on Yesterday.
At the close, the FTSE 100 was up 58.28 points at 5,770.98, recovering all of Thursday's 0.9 percent fall, which had been the biggest single-day decline for six weeks.
"It's just the ebb and flow of a thinly traded market after the Easter holidays," said Mic Mills, senior trader at ETX Capital. Traded volume on Yesterday was only 60 percent of the 90-day average volume.
"We're going to be poll dancing for the next few weeks as the markets dither about the outcome of the British election, and this will create opportunities for some."
On Wall Street, US blue chips were 0.5 percent higher by London's close, extending Thursday's gains after top US retail chains posted a record rise in monthly same-store sales for March.
Thursday's US data heightened hopes for a sustained economic recovery, lifting commodity prices as the dollar weakened and the demand outlook improved.
Miners were the top blue-chip performers in London, with Fresnillo, Xstrata, Anglo American AAL.L, Lonmin, and BHP Billiton up 1.5 to 3.5 percent.
Xstrata has approached one of the major shareholders of Macarthur Coal, according to the Australian firm, which has already rejected two separate takeover approaches in the past week. Xstrata declined to comment.
Oil majors also benefited from the improved demand sentiment, although crude prices slipped back below $85 a barrel.
Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group, BP, Tullow Oil and Cairn Energy added 0.6 to 1.9 percent.
Banks, which tend to benefit as the economic outlook improves, were also a strong source of support for the FTSE 100 index, bouncing back after sharp falls on Thursday.
Speculation that Greece was closer to tapping the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to help repay its ballooning debt also helped sentiment.
But this was countered by a move from agency Fitch to cut its credit rating for Greece by two notches.
HSBC, Standard Chartered, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group gained 0.5 to 2.5 percent.
Buyout firm Blackstone and charity group The Wellcome Trust have launched a joint bid for bank branches being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland, a source familiar with the matter said on Yesterday.
Barclays, however, bucked the brighter trend, falling 0.2 percent ahead of any news from a hearing in New York in the long-running court case concerning its takeover of Lehman's North American business.
ASIAN AVIVA
Insurer Aviva was also a strong riser, up 2.3 percent after it said it would re-enter the Asian general insurance market five years after selling its non-life operations there, with Singapore becoming its first market in the region.
Peers Standard Life and Prudential gained 0.5 and 2 percent, respectively.
But other financial groups were weak, with specialist investment bank Investec, which only recently joined the FTSE 100 index, losing 0.6 percent, while fund manager Schroders saw its non-voting shares drop 1.3 percent.
Defensively perceived drug and tobacco stocks were the main blue-chip fallers, with AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline down 0.3 and 0.4 percent, while British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco shed 0.2 and 0.4 percent.
British factory gate inflation rose in March at its fastest pace in 16 months, driven by a surge in the cost of oil and imported goods, official data showed on Yesterday.
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