Corporate updates help FTSE recovery
A string of corporate updates was giving London shares plenty of forward momentum today as the FTSE 100 Index put back some of its recent losses.
The Footsie has climbed 45.3 points higher at 4384.7 by mid-morning.
Telecoms stocks were helping the push forward as investors cheered the move by mobile phone operator mmO2 to raise its revenues guidance in the UK.
MmO2 was more than 2% higher – up 2p at 91.5p – while rival Vodafone gained 2p to 119.25p ahead of its own performance update on Monday.
The positive mood also helped Virgin Mobile, which made its stock market debut with conditional dealings in shares rising 2.5p from their 200p starting point.
In a busy session for corporate news, retailer GUS was third on the Footsie risers board – up 3% or 25.5p to 849p – after reporting another strong sales performance from its Argos chain.
British Airways took the top spot with a rise of 8.75p to 244.75p.
One of the few downbeat notes from the session came from Cable & Wireless after it reported a fall in first quarter revenues. Shares fell 3% or 4p to 109.75p.
Confectionery group Cadbury Schweppes was also in the red – down 13.75p to 459.5p – despite posting results in line with expectations after a surge in demand for diet soft drinks in the US.
Outside the top flight, shares in bookmaker and casino operator Stanley Leisure gained 7% after the group said the rollout of more gaming machines helped lift results to the top end of forecasts.
