Increased optimism that central bankers will pull the trigger on further emergency support measures ensured a robust performance on the London market today.
The FTSE 100 Index closed 46.9 points higher at 5,758.4 following hints on Friday from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that more quantitative easing was an option.
The hoped-for boost from central bankers ensured commodity-based stocks were at the forefront of the improvement in London, with silver miner Fresnillo up by 4% or 66p to £16.27 and Kazakhmys 17p higher at 610p.
Supermarket Morrisons was a top flight casualty as the City took a pessimistic view of half-year results on Thursday. With the company feeling the pressure of discounting by rivals, profits for the six months to July 31 are expected to fall 2% to £434million. Shares were 1.8p lower at 278.2p.
Insurer Admiral, which owns the price comparison website Confused, was down 3% or 36p to £11.50 after Credit Suisse questioned whether there was further scope for growth in the stock after a recent strong run.
It was a similar story at chip designer ARM Holdings, after Deutsche Bank said it expected the Cambridge-based company’s recently strong earnings per share growth to slow. Shares were 14.5p lower at 559.5p.
The biggest Footsie risers included Vedanta Resources up 24.5p at 892p and Sage Group ahead 7.3p at 303.5p.
Among the biggest Footsie fallers was Aggreko, down 23p at £23.37.
Barry Shepherd, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted that Wood Group added 1.22% to 830.25p, EnQuest rose 1.98% to 113.3p and Parkmead closed 2% higher at 12.75p.
Among the limited fallers was A.G. Barr, which closed down 1.38% at 411.85p.