Footsie up as world markets steady
World markets showed signs of steadying today as fears over rising inflation began to recede.
With Wall Street’s Dow Jones Industrial Average bagging a 93.7 point gain, markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Australia also moved ahead.
Benefiting from better economic signals on inflation in the United States, the FTSE 100 Index jumped 69.7 points as trading opened in London before settling 39.9 points higher at 5717.6 by mid-morning.
But market watchers said profit taking ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend and nervousness over further US data could not be ruled out.
Victims of recent falls clocked the biggest gains today with miners Kazakhmys, Anglo American and Xstrata all well ahead – gaining 35p at 1111p, 54p at 2128p and 43p at 1978p respectively.
Steel maker Corus also regained lost ground with a 3% rise, up 11p to reach 384p. Sentiment was helped by news of further consolidation in the sector after Mittal target Arcelor agreed a surprise merger with Russian firm Severstal.
Also featuring on the risers board was airports operator BAA which put back some of yesterday’s losses, gaining 21.5p at 809p after Spanish suitor Ferrovial shrugged off news of an OFT probe and indicated it was still interested in pursuing its £8.75 billion offer.
Other notable rises included Marks & Spencer, which rose 11p to 558.5p at the end of a week in which it posted a 35% rise in half-year profits.
And housebuilder Persimmon surged 4% or 44p to 1242p following a positive note on the sector from Citigroup.
With few shares in negative territory, a hint of profit taking trimmed the progress of sugar group Tate & Lyle which was one of yesterday’s main gainers. Shares were lower for much of the session before reaching break-even point at 564p.
