London open: Shares jump after US launches second stimulus phase

4th Nov 2010 08:30

Yesterday's announcement of a second phase of quantitative easing in the US has sent shares soaring.Miners in particular are going well on hopes that the stimulus measures will help sustain the global economic recovery.BHP Billiton, Kazakhmys and Xstrata move ahead.In other sectors, Anglo-Dutch household goods giant Unilever is higher even after it saw underlying sales growth ease off in the third quarter, despite a strong performance in emerging markets. Third quarter turnover at the Knorr soup and Dove soap group was up 13.2% at €11.55bn from €10.20bn a year earlier, ahead of some market forecasts of €11.35bn. Man Group is going well after the hedge fund manager saw funds under management in the three months to September 30 rise to $40.5bn (£25.2bn) from $38.5bn 'due to strong investment performance and favourable FX movements.'Supermarket Morrisons is missing out on the fun after a rise in sales failed to impress. In a brief statement, the company said total sales excluding fuel were up by 2.8%, with like-for-like sales up by 1.3%. Insurer RSA Group maintained top line momentum in the third quarter despite challenging trading conditions. Net written premiums in the first nine months of 2010 totalled £5.53bn, up 10% from £5.03bn the year before. With exchange rate fluctuations stripped out the rise was 7%. Engineering firm Invensys said it was reassured by the government's commitment to invest in infrastructure such as the London Underground and the Crossrail project as it posted higher revenues, though profits were impacted by contract implementation costs. In the half year to September 30, pre-tax profits fell to £75m from £88m over the same period the previous year as revenues climbed to £1.16bn from £1.07bn. In the FTSE 250, oil and gas group Melrose Resources is strong after it announced its first production from gas fields off the Bulgarian coast. No-frills airline easyJet said it carried 4.6m passengers in October, up 8.6% from the same period last year. The October load factor increased to 88.2% from 86.8% in 2009, making 87.1% for the rolling 12 months. First quarter like-for-like sales at pub chain JD Wetherspoon increased 1.6% while total sales in the period rose 7.3%. International Hotel Group Millennium & Copthorne nearly doubled profits in the third quarter as it took advantage of improved economic conditions to lift room rates.