London close: Footsie highest in over a week

8th Oct 2009 16:33

Stocks ran out of steam mid-afternoon, trading as near to Wednesday's close as they had done all day, but strength on Wall Street inspired a late rally here.The top stocks were still mining companies as metal prices continued their march higher. Gold futures neared $1,060 an ounce as the dollar continued to weaken. It's the third consecutive day of record prices.Xstrata, ENRC, Kazakhmys, Antofagasta, Anglo American and BHP Billiton were popular. Indian miner Vedanta said zinc, copper and aluminium operations were at full capacity during the second quarter, aiding a 16% rise in refined zinc production and a 27% surge in iron ore output.Eight of the FTSE 100's top ten stocks were miners, but high-end fashion retailer Burberry headed the pack followed by Tullow Oil, which reacted well to oil prices back above $71 a barrel.Earlier today, the Bank of England kept interest rates unchanged at historic lows of 0.5% and left its £175bn programme of Quantitative Easing alone for now. Lloyds Banking hit reverse on reports that the part-nationalised bank is proposing to raise around £25bn in capital by means of a right issue and a debt to equity conversion. The plans will see the state's stake in the bank jump from 43% to 62%.Among the mid-caps, car and bike accessories retailer Halfords pedalled higher after the rate of like for like sales growth picked up in the second quarter. With sales and margins improving the board said it expects full-year profit before tax to be in the range of £59m to £61m.Support services and construction company Carillion is going well after saying it continues to perform well and remains on track to deliver materially enhanced earnings in 2009, despite challenging market conditions.Ladbrokes is leading the FTSE 250 fallers after the bookmaker announced plans to raise £275m via a rights issue as it warned that profitability has continued to weaken largely as a result of lower gross win margins. The group also scrapped it final dividend in 2009 but said it intends to re-instate dividend payments at the interim results next year. Sector peer William Hill dips lower in sympathy.Mobile phone retailer and broadband provider Carphone Warehouse reiterated its existing guidance for the year to March 2010, after posting rises in customers at its two divisions. Australian air Express (AeE) has extended defence firm Cobham's long term contract to provide air freight services to eastern Australian ports. The contract extension is worth AU$100m.Recruitment firm Hays posted continuing sharp revenue falls across its geographical and business divisions in the quarter to September 30, with permanent recruitment fees leading the decline, falling by half.Italian restaurant chain Carluccio's said it expects to post a pre-tax profit ahead of expectations after seeing an 8% rise in turnover in the year to 27 September.Hochschild Mining has increased the size of the bond issue announced on Wednesday as part of its fund raising plans. The company has successfully placed $115m of senior unsecured convertible bonds due 2014; initial plans were for the bond issue to raise $100m.Housebuilder Barratt Developments is wanted as brokers interpret the news that it is listing on property web site Rightmove again as a positive sign for the company.Fashion chain Ted Baker said its first half performance has been better than expected in difficult trading conditions. Profit before tax in the 28 weeks to 15 August eased 18.4% to £6m from £7.4m in the corresponding period of 2008.Magners cider maker C&C reported a 10.5% fall in revenues and profits during the six months to August 31 as drinkers saved money during the tough economic climate by imbibing at home rather than in bars.Shareholders in gaming machine operator Sceptre Leisure had a nice little win as the company announced a hefty increase in earnings. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose to £13m in the year to 30 April from £7.2m the year before.FTSE 100 - RisersBurberry Group (BRBY) 532.50p +5.55%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,229.00p +5.04%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,152.00p +4.92%Antofagasta (ANTO) 834.50p +4.64%Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 942.50p +4.55%Xstrata (XTA) 965.50p +4.38%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,190.00p +4.04%Anglo American (AAL) 2,182.00p +4.03%Lonmin (LMI) 1,629.00p +4.02%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,840.50p +3.72%FTSE 100 - FallersBAE Systems (BA.) 324.20p -2.64%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,020.00p -2.11%SEGRO (SGRO) 361.90p -2.06%Vodafone Group (VOD) 134.60p -1.75%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 811.50p -1.70%Liberty International (LII) 478.00p -1.50%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 94.31p -1.41%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 48.95p -1.41%Reed Elsevier (REL) 467.00p -1.23%British Land Co (BLND) 477.70p -1.22%FTSE 250 - RisersPetropavlovsk (POG) 1,106.00p +7.38%Carillion (CLLN) 298.30p +7.19%Michael Page International (MPI) 368.30p +7.10%Halfords Group (HFD) 390.00p +7.05%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 266.80p +6.98%Aveva Group (AVV) 920.00p +6.67%JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 301.20p +5.76%Renishaw (RSW) 585.50p +5.69%Victrex (VCT) 791.50p +5.67%Weir Group (WEIR) 718.00p +5.67%FTSE 250 - FallersLadbrokes (LAD) 171.40p -5.41%Kier Group (KIE) 1,072.00p -3.60%William Hill (WMH) 171.00p -2.95%UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 71.70p -2.65%Northern Foods (NFDS) 65.70p -1.94%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 272.70p -1.80%Mothercare (MTC) 634.50p -1.09%F&C Commercial Property Trust (FCPT) 83.25p -1.07%Cranswick (CWK) 700.00p -0.92%Morgan Sindall (MGNS) 604.50p -0.90%