Interest-rate vote boosts FTSE
Details of the knife-edge vote on interest rates by Bank of England policymakers drew a positive response on the London market today.
With four members voting against the increase to 5.25%, investors took the news as a sign that rates may not rise again in the current quarter.
The FTSE 100 Index, already up on the back of stronger miners and banking stocks, reached mid-morning 65.9 points higher at 6293.5, near to the best point for the year.
Northern Rock shares climbed by more than 2% today as investors warmed to better-than-expected annual profits from the mortgage lender.
With Northern confident about prospects for 2007, as well as trends for future level of arrears, shares climbed 30p to 1194p. Halifax Bank of Scotland followed Northern’s lead with a rise of 26p to 1138p while Royal Bank of Scotland surged 46p to 2090p.
Miners also made strong gains after HSBC upped its rating on Kazakhmys and said recent share-price falls appeared to have been overdone. The news lifted Kazakhmys by 38p to 1106p while Vedanta Resources was ahead 45p at 1170p.
On the downside, hotels group InterContinental gave up some of its recent takeover-fuelled gains, falling 8p to 1296p.
Currys owner DSG International was lower after last week’s Christmas trading disappointment prompted Investec Securities to publish revised profits forecasts for the company. Shares were down 1.75p at 170.25p.
In the FTSE 250 Index, pubs operator JD Wetherspoon surged more than 3% after it said sales over Christmas had been strong and that it managed to keep margins moving forward in the face of rising costs. Shares were up 23.5p at 687p.
Home retail group N Brown followed suit with a rise of 7%, as it posted strong Christmas sales figures and said it would return cash to shareholders.
