London close: Footsie rebounds past 5,000

11th Sep 2009 16:53

Footsie went into the weekend with the 5,000 point level in its rear-view mirror as miners advanced.Silver miner Fresnillo, copper group Antofagasta and platinum specialist Lonmin were among the best performers. Hedge fund giant Man Group also went well helped by the rising markets.British Airways continued its recent ascent. The airline's shares are up again today making a near 20% rise this week. In early July the shares were changing hands at under 120p.Tesco had a more tangible reason for its shares to pick up. The supermarket giant said it will create more than 1,500 new jobs with the creation of a new partnership with Belgian company Fortis providing motor and household insurance. Initial investments from Tesco and Fortis are expected to be in the region of £100m each.Pub group JD Wetherspoon is mulling a complete refinancing, possibly including a rights issue to clear its £435m debts after it posted record underlying figures last year. Profits before tax before exceptional items in the year to July rose 13.6% to £66.2m (2008: £58.2m), at the high end of forecasts.Recruitment firm SThree is still finding the going tough and said it is too early to call a turning point in the market despite signs of stabilisation in the UK. Demand for permanent placements remains especially weak, but the contract hiring market is proving more resilient, the company said in a trading update covering the three months to the end of August.Online gamer 888, in contrast, is very strong. Dragonfish, 888's independent B2B division, has signed a long-term agreement with Harrah's Interactive Entertainment to provide its online gaming services.Balfour Beatty said Gammon Construction, the Hong Kong-based infrastructure contractor in which it has a 50% shareholding, has been awarded the Centennial Campus contract by the University of Hong Kong, valued at HK$2bn (£150m). The contract is scheduled to commence this month and is expected to have occupational permit issued in December 2011 with overall completion in Spring 2012.Home shopping specialist N Brown has acquired certain assets of the taller or larger man's clothes retailer High and Mighty from the administrator. The company has bought the brand, web site and the assets of 14 High and Mighty stores in the UK for £1.6m in cash.Rockhopper, the oil and gas explorer focused on the North Falkland Basin, said a third party energy company has signed a farm-in agreement to one of Rockhopper's licences. The company also welcomed the announcement made on Thursday by Desire Petroleum relating to the hiring of a rig to drill at least four wells in the North Falkland Basin. Rockhopper said it hopes to drill at least two wells on the operated acreage as part of a larger campaign with Desire. FTSE 100 - RisersMan Group (EMG) 291.40p +8.89%Fresnillo (FRES) 735.50p +5.07%International Power (IPR) 293.40p +3.53%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,439.00p +3.30%Lonmin (LMI) 1,722.00p +3.24%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 370.00p +3.21%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,714.50p +2.97%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,618.50p +2.89%BG Group (BG.) 1,135.00p +2.81%Xstrata (XTA) 924.50p +2.72%FTSE 100 - FallersHome Retail Group (HOME) 293.00p -4.72%Burberry Group (BRBY) 479.80p -1.88%TUI Travel (TT.) 262.60p -1.80%BT Group (BT.A) 129.55p -1.63%Standard Life (SL.) 195.40p -1.46%Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 465.30p -1.21%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,037.00p -1.14%Schroders (SDR) 1,141.00p -1.13%Friends Provident Group (FP.) 82.70p -0.96%Pearson (PSON) 737.50p -0.87%FTSE 250 - RisersRPS Group (RPS) 240.00p +14.39%888 Holdings (888) 97.50p +14.30%Wellstream Holdings (WSM) 645.00p +9.41%Vectura Group (VEC) 95.50p +8.15%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 301.60p +6.99%Mcbride (MCB) 181.30p +6.65%Shanks Group (SKS) 106.50p +6.50%PayPoint (PAY) 503.00p +6.25%TR Property Inv Trust Sigma Shares (TRYS) 71.90p +5.50%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 80.20p +5.46%FTSE 250 - FallersIG Group Holdings (IGG) 326.00p -8.38%Interserve (IRV) 248.10p -5.84%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 394.00p -5.17%Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 261.00p -3.69%Punch Taverns (PUB) 137.90p -3.30%Premier Oil (PMO) 1,308.00p -2.97%Beazley Group (BEZ) 113.10p -2.92%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 172.00p -2.60%Redrow (RDW) 222.00p -2.25%BBA Aviation (BBA) 173.30p -2.20%