London’s leading shares index regained some composure today amid renewed optimism over Greece’s crucial debt deal and resilient jobs figures from the US.
The FTSE 100 Index added 25.6 points, or 0.4% to 5,791.4 after yesterday’s near-2% slide.
Banks held firm, with Lloyds Banking Group 0.1p higher at 34.3p and Barclays also 0.1p ahead at £2.39.
Royal Bank of Scotland was flat at 26.2p as markets showed little reaction to business secretary Vince Cable’s reported proposal that the state-owned bank should be broken up in order to create a vehicle for lending to small companies.
The biggest rise of the session came from car insurer Admiral as its 2011 results restored some confidence in the group following a profits warning in November.
Admiral has been hit by higher bodily injury claims but shares were up 10%, or £1.04 to £11.44 after chief executive Henry Engelhardt said the company’s prospects remained bright going into 2012.
The Footsie’s biggest risers also included Essar Energy ahead 5.4p at £1.07, ICAP up 13.8p at 394.4p and Burberry 44p better off at £14.37.
Among the big fallers were British American Tobacco down 65.5p at £31.26, CRH off 22p at £12.63, Standard Chartered down 9.5p at 1555.5p and Antofagasta off 7p at £12.30.
Outside the top flight, aerospace and defence systems firm Cobham was up 13%, or 23.4p to 209.7p after it reported a 7% rise in underlying profits to £306million and said US defence and securities priorities outlined recently were likely to favour the company despite the ongoing threat of spending cutbacks.
Car dealership Lookers lost hold of initial gains in the wake of full-year results showing its third consecutive year of profits improvement. It added that trading had got off to a strong start in 2012 as it continued to outperform the new car market, however, shares closed flat at 57.5p.
Alan Cockburn, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted Petrofac up 3% to £15.91, AMEC 2.5% higher at £11.06 and Aggreko rising 2.2% to £21.71.
Faroe Petroleum was off 5% at 156.6p, Cairn Energy fell 0.4% to 319.7p and BG Group lost 0.3% to £14.65.