London close: Stocks rally into long weekend

5th Apr 2012 16:36

- US jobless claims fall to lowest level since 2008- BoE maintains Bank Rate and QE- Miners, Ashmore rise strongly in ahead of long weekendStocks rallied in afternoon trade to push the FTSE 100 into positive territory after some upbeat jobless data from the US boosted sentiment.The Footsie dropped to an intraday low of 5,665 before recovering to 5,726 by the close. The index has not closed below the 5,700 level since late January. "The recovery could be simply a matter of traders closing out positions ahead of the long weekend," according to analysts at Digital Look. The market on both Friday and Monday will be closed for bank holidays.The initial fall on the Footsie today was spurred by manufacturing figures, which showed that output fell by 1% in February despite forecasts of a slight increase. "We maintain our view that the economy will remain fragile during the first half of the year before gaining strength during the second half of the year," said Barclays Capital analyst Blerina Uruci following the release of the data. Meanwhile, the Bank of England's policy decision had little effect after its release as the central bank did what was widely expected to stand pat. The BoE held its interest rate at the record low level of 0.5%, while its asset purchase programme was left at £325bn. US initial weekly unemployment claims fell by 6,000 to 357,000 last week according to the latest data from the Labor Department. The market consensus was expecting a slightly lower reading but this is still represents the fewest weekly claims in four years.Spain was still a cause for concern today though, with the yield on its 10-year bonds rising to 5.74%, a 2012 high.MINERS TRACK METALS PRICES HIGHERWith commodities prices recovering from yesterday's sell-off, miners topped the risers list in London, with Glencore leading the charge gaining nearly 6%. Xstrata, Polymetal, Kazakhmys, Antofagasta, Vedanta and ENRC also finished with decent gains.Fund manager Ashmore was up there with the best performers after UBS raised its rating on the stock from neutral to buy. The broker said that its recent underperformance, combined with the strong fund performance and record inflows at industry level, was the reason behind the upgrade. Quality control services provider Intertek Group was in demand after it acquired ATI, a provider of asset integrity support services in the US power sector. British Sky Broadcasting, whose major shareholder News Corp has already been embroiled in the celebrity hacking scandal, was a heavy faller on reports that its Sky News unit had been involved in hacking the e-mails of a man accused of faking his own death. Sky said it believed it was in the "public's interest".FTSE 250: MICRO FOCUS ON THE UP, EXILLON HEADS THE OTHER WAYMicro Focus was making gains after UBS raised its recommendation on the stock from neutral to buy and lifted its target price from 440p to 525p.Russia-focused oil producer Exillon Energy shares were falling despite the firm producing an average of 11,785 barrels per day during March, better than average output the month before. The amount was still well off its full-year target of 17,000.FTSE 100 - RisersGlencore International (GLEN) 411.80p +5.75%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 385.60p +5.15%Polymetal International (POLY) 932.00p +4.13%Xstrata (XTA) 1,112.00p +3.54%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,755.00p +3.36%Sage Group (SGE) 295.10p +2.64%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,129.00p +2.36%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 906.50p +2.20%Evraz (EVR) 361.00p +2.09%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,235.00p +2.07%FTSE 100 - FallersBritish Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 635.50p -3.42%Man Group (EMG) 119.70p -2.52%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 31.38p -1.58%BAE Systems (BA.) 291.30p -1.39%Unilever (ULVR) 2,043.00p -1.21%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 25.82p -1.07%ICAP (IAP) 378.60p -1.05%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,507.00p -0.92%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 257.30p -0.89%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 615.00p -0.89%FTSE 250 - RisersTalvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 239.60p +7.40%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 162.60p +4.57%Essar Energy (ESSR) 158.10p +4.01%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 471.70p +3.67%Micro Focus International (MCRO) 470.00p +3.55%National Express Group (NEX) 236.50p +3.50%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 65.55p +3.15%Grainger (GRI) 105.50p +3.13%Spirent Communications (SPT) 161.60p +3.06%Cookson Group (CKSN) 710.00p +2.97%FTSE 250 - FallersPetra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 166.90p -6.18%Exillon Energy (EXI) 133.60p -5.25%International Personal Finance (IPF) 252.20p -4.58%Booker Group (BOK) 81.25p -3.96%Ruspetro (RPO) 210.30p -3.09%Computacenter (CCC) 407.10p -3.03%Avocet Mining (AVM) 170.40p -2.80%BBA Aviation (BBA) 210.70p -2.41%COLT Group SA (COLT) 103.00p -2.37%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 136.20p -2.30%BC