London close: FTSE 100 back at 6,000

2nd Feb 2011 16:39

Strength in the mining sector on the back of higher metals prices and well-received updates drove the FTSE 100 back to 6,000 points.Both factors benefited miner Eurasian National Resources (ENRC). Production matched estimates in the fourth quarter of 2010, while the ferroalloys unit produced a bit more than expected.Heavyweight peers BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were both sporting solid gains, as were Lonmin, Xstrata and Vedanta. Precious metals miners Randgold and Fresnillo are joining in.But Imperial Tobacco was best blue-chip of the day after a good start to its financial year. Underlying tobacco net revenues were up 5% in the final quarter of 2010, while it also saw increased cigarette and fine cut tobacco volumes, resulting in total stick equivalent volumes up 1.2%. "We believe that the recent weakness in the stock, driven by suggestions that smoking will decline to zero in 30 to 50 years, has been overdone and we regard today's IMS as the most positive piece of newsflow since Alison Cooper took over as CEO last summer," analysts at Daniel Stewart say.Pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline has raised $1.7bn through the sale of its entire shareholding in US firm Quest Diagnostics. After the tax man has taken his slice the company expects to receive cash proceeds of around $1.1bn.Speciality chemicals group Johnson Matthey was a laggard after it said its underlying performance for the full year is expected to be slightly ahead of previous company expectations after third quarter profit rose by 34%.More volatility in financial markets helped derivatives broker ICAP in the run-up to Christmas, with revenues over the three months to December up by 9%, in line with its first half.Sir John Bond is to relinquish the chairman role of mobile phone network giant Vodafone at the company's annual general meeting in July. He will be succeeded as chairman by Gerard Kleisterlee, currently president and chief executive officer and chairman of the board of management and the group management committee of Dutch consumer electronics titan Philips.In the FTSE 250, set top box maker Pace jumped after a report said it has gained an important foothold in India, winning a contract with a pay-television provider.The mid-cap booby prize went the Centamin Egypt, the gold miner whose shares took a big knock last week when the Egyptian crisis erupted.JD Sports has confirmed speculation it has made an offer for struggling rival JJB Sports, though adds discussion are at a very early stage.JJB unveiled the details of a £31.5m fund raising through a 19% increase in shares in issue. The new shares will be issued at 5p. It flagged the placing in December after warning it could breach its bank covenants.Peruvian silver miner Hochschild has published positive drill results from the early stage Pariguanas project, part of its joint venture agreement with Buenaventura. London-listed Hochschild signed the deal with precious metals giant Buenaventura last June, merging a number of neighbouring properties of similar size covering 4,437 hectares.Outplacement specialist and recruiter Penna Consulting has slumped to a four-month low after warning that profits for the year to March will be "materially lower" than market expectations.FTSE 100 - RisersImperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 1,900.00p +5.91%ARM Holdings (ARM) 571.50p +4.38%Lonmin (LMI) 1,768.00p +4.06%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 1,076.00p +3.76%Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,507.50p +3.76%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,513.50p +3.44%Anglo American (AAL) 3,273.50p +3.36%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,429.00p +3.25%Prudential (PRU) 700.00p +2.79%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,509.00p +2.51%FTSE 100 - FallersGKN (GKN) 193.80p -4.91%International Power (IPR) 405.00p -3.43%Amec (AMEC) 1,216.00p -2.80%AstraZeneca (AZN) 2,947.50p -2.77%Invensys (ISYS) 326.40p -2.71%IMI (IMI) 859.50p -2.61%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,592.00p -2.51%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,327.00p -2.50%National Grid (NG.) 548.50p -2.05%Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 626.50p -1.88%FTSE 250 - RisersPace (PIC) 213.30p +10.58%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 521.00p +5.98%Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) 307.50p +3.89%SDL (SDL) 646.00p +3.36%Spirent Communications (SPT) 147.00p +3.30%Supergroup (SGP) 1,590.00p +3.25%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 373.20p +3.24%Afren (AFR) 155.30p +3.19%Laird (LRD) 172.00p +3.12%Yule Catto & Co (YULC) 232.90p +2.96%FTSE 250 - FallersCentamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 138.60p -5.71%Cookson Group (CKSN) 649.00p -5.53%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 36.76p -5.26%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 183.00p -3.68%Spectris (SXS) 1,354.00p -3.35%Keller Group (KLR) 640.50p -3.25%Charter International (CHTR) 789.00p -2.71%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 264.00p -2.65%Rotork (ROR) 1,642.00p -2.38%Melrose (MRO) 308.00p -2.32%