London close: Stocks soar as euro talks proceed

27th Sep 2011 16:33

The top share index surged in early dealings and continued heading higher towards the close amid optimism that European leaders will get to grips with the euro crisis.Talks are still ongoing about an expansion of the European Financial Stability Fund, with conflicting signals over whether an agreement is near failing to put investors off.Miners were at the vanguard of the advance, with Indian copper miner Vedanta and silver specialist Fresnillo, which benefited from the rebound in precious metals prices, posting double-digit percentage gains. In the FTSE 250, meanwhile, an upgrade to "neutral" from "underweight" from JP Morgan Cazenove has sent emerging markets lender International Personal Finance soaring. "The fall in IPF's share price has pushed the valuation to a level which we believe is too low," the broker says.Even Daily Mail publisher DMGT was participating in the market advance. The group has warned that full year operating profit will be down from the previous year, while earnings per share will be at the lower end of market expectations due to the weak consumer advertising environment. In the 11 months to the end of August, revenue was up by 1% from the same period the previous year, with the specialist business publications arm providing strong growth.Merchant bank Close Brothers saw adjusted operating profit from continuing operations increase 13% from a year earlier to £131m and adjusted EPS increase 11% to 64.8p in the year ended July 31st. The group saw a "strong performance" from its Banking division which increased operating profits by 34% from a year earlier. Pubs group Mitchells & Butlers saw a 2.7% year-on-year increase in like-for-like sales (LFL) in the first 51 weeks of its financial year, though LFL growth has slowed to 0.5% in the 9 weeks to 17 September. Food sales at the bid target in the 9 week period were up 1.1% on a LFL basis, while drink sales edged up 0.2%. The group said the UK consumer environment remains challenging, while cost pressures are likely to endure into next year.Irn-Bru maker AG Barr saw a quickening of sales growth in its second quarter. Second quarter sales were up 5.1% from a year earlier, taking half-year sales growth up to 4%. Underlying profit before tax was marginally higher at £16.2m from £16.0m at the interim stage last year. The group said it is on course to meeting its expectations for the full year.Game Group, the high street computer games retailer which has seen its share price fall two thirds in the last year, fell back, but later rallied sharply, after it posted a like-for-like sales drop of 9.9% in the first half of the year compared to the same period of 2010. Suit retailer Moss Brothers was in fashion. It has shrugged off the recent economic weakness to record trading ahead of expectations and is on course to deliver better than expected growth levels by the year end, it said today. In the period between the end of January and the end of July, it said like-for-like sales were up by 15.4%. Pre-tax profits on continuing operations came in at £2.2m, against a loss of £2.8m over the same period the previous year. Also in retail, shares in Topps Tiles soared after the tile and flooring retailer said it expects to report revenues of £175.7m for the year to 1 October, down from £182.4m the previous year. It also says like-for-like revenues will decrease by 1.9%.AIM-listed tiddler Europe Oil and Gas fell back after being hit by a tax bill of €730,000 by the Romanian authorities following its sale of the Bilca gas field in 2007. The Romanian government says value added tax should have been paid on the transaction.The South Africa focused gold mining company, Central Rand Gold, has seen its share price fall 56% following the suspension of its "mining right" - in essence its license to mine. The company says its right has been cancelled because of contraventions of the Mining Work Programme and Social Labour Plan.Diploma, the seals, fasteners and instrumentation provider, has continued to trade strongly across each of its sectors in the final quarter of its financial year, and expects full-year figures to be at the top end of expectations. Revenues for the year ending 30 September are expected to be around 25% ahead of those reported last year, the group said. FTSE 100 - RisersVedanta Resources (VED) 1,196.00p +11.78%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,052.00p +10.74%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,681.00p +10.30%Essar Energy (ESSR) 269.90p +10.16%Xstrata (XTA) 902.10p +10.01%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 857.00p +9.59%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 599.00p +8.91%Barclays (BARC) 168.45p +7.98%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,196.50p +7.83%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,650.00p +7.77%FTSE 100 - FallersAutonomy Corporation (AU.) 2,540.00p +0.24%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,143.00p +0.53%National Grid (NG.) 629.00p +0.88%International Power (IPR) 318.60p +0.95%Unilever (ULVR) 2,006.00p +1.26%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,156.00p +1.32%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 291.30p +1.46%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,349.00p +1.47%Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) 1,300.00p +1.48%Capita Group (CPI) 712.50p +1.50%FTSE 250 - RisersInternational Personal Finance (IPF) 225.30p +14.66%Premier Oil (PMO) 350.30p +10.02%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 252.10p +9.61%Atkins (WS) (ATK) 544.50p +9.51%Elementis (ELM) 130.50p +8.75%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 307.20p +8.44%Logica (LOG) 80.30p +8.29%Ocado Group (OCDO) 98.45p +8.19%Misys (MSY) 232.20p +8.05%Cookson Group (CKSN) 441.00p +7.43%FTSE 250 - FallersRank Group (RNK) 118.80p -2.86%Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 246.50p -2.38%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,398.00p -2.08%Synergy Health (SYR) 873.00p -1.97%PZ Cussons (PZC) 333.40p -1.71%Savills (SVS) 288.60p -1.67%UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 73.90p -1.66%KCOM Group (KCOM) 69.60p -1.63%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 38.09p -1.42%Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 265.50p -1.34%