The FTSE 100 Index rose 5.4 points to 5,796.1 today after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the world’s largest economy had recently shown signs of improvement.
London’s leading shares could have made further progress if it were not for a raft of disappointing results from blue-chips overshadowing the positive news across the Atlantic.
The prospect of a multi-billion pound merger between mining giants Glencore and Xstrata boosted the heavily-weighted resources sector and lent support to the wider market.
However, shares in Unilever, AstraZeneca and Royal Dutch Shell were all lower after their full-year figures disappointed investors.
Unilever sank to the bottom of the Footsie, off 91p at £19.94 after full-year figures showing a 1% rise in operating profits but also a slowdown in sales volumes in the fourth quarter.
Pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca was down 3%, or 28.5p at £13.96 after fourth-quarter profits came in lower than expected. It also warned that 2012 revenues and profits were likely to be lower.
Rival GlaxoSmithKline fell 28.5p to £13.96 ahead of its results next week.
Oil giant Shell was also under pressure, down 28.5p to 2297.5p despite it posting a 54% jump in annual profits to £18.1billion.
Rival BP, which posts figures on Tuesday, was down 5.1p at 477.9p.
Miner Xstrata said it had been approached by commodities trader Glencore with a potential merger opportunity – which propelled both companies to the top of the risers’ board.
Xstrata shares were 10%, or £1.11 higher at 1230.5p and Glencore – a relative newcomer to the market – rose 29.95p to 461.7p amid talks about creating a firm worth more than £50billion.
Fellow miners were boosted, with Vedanta Resources up 72p at £13.23 and Randgold Resources ahead £1.20 at £74.20.
Stuart Lamont, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, highlighted Petrofac advancing 3.1% to £14.95, EnQuest 2.75% higher at 112.2p and AMEC up 1.47% to £10.36.
FirstGroup was off 3.32% at 305.45p, Nautical Petroleum slid 1.82% to £3.24 and Cairn Energy fell 1.71% to £2.87.