Investors paused for breath today after the almost relentless sell-off that knocked £80billion from London’s leading shares last week.
The FTSE 100 Index closed 36.9 points higher at 5,304.5 but appetite for risk remained fragile as traders said there was nothing of note from the weekend summit of G8 leaders in Washington apart from reassuring noises about keeping Greece in the euro.
David Jones, chief market strategist at financial spread-betting firm IG Index, said: “It just seems that for one day, traders believe that the move which has wiped off around 500 points from the blue-chip index this month has gone too far, for now at least.”
Notable risers included Royal Bank of Scotland – 0.8p higher at 20.8p – and Barclays, up 3.9p to £1.80 after it announced it was to sell its £3.8billion stake in investment manager Blackrock.
Hedge fund operator Man Group enjoyed a much-needed rally at the top of the blue-chip risers board after it announced the acquisition of a research and investment specialist with £5billion of funds under management. The group was 5%, or 3.5p higher at 78.8p, having fallen by around 60% over the past year amid concerns about the performance of its core funds.
British Land shares recovered from a weak start to stand 6.9p higher at 495.6p after a 5% rise in underlying pre-tax profits.
Other Footsie risers included Vedanta Resources up 49.5p at £10.08 and Polymetal International ahead 29p at £8.28.
Among the fallers were Fresnillo down 39p at £13.19, Centrica off 4.4p at 310.6p, Aberdeen Asset Management down 3.2p at 237.9p and Tesco off 2.55p at 311.15p.
Outside the top flight, outsourcing company MITIE Group rose 3.3p to £2.75 after it announced a 9% increase in full-year profits following a year in which its order book grew by 26% to £8.6billion.
Soft drink company A.G. Barr was 3p lower at £11.17 after it posted a 4.3% increase in sales for the 14 weeks to May 5.
Barry Shepherd, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted Wood Group adding 3.4% to 708.25p, Cairn Energy up 2.9% to 294.55p and Weir Group 2.5% higher at £15.03.
Xcite Energy closed 2.8% lower at 87.875p and SSE shed 0.6% to £13.25.
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