The FTSE 100 Index continued to rise today after shrugging off mixed economic news from the US and China.
Chinese retail sales met expectations but were short of the performance seen last year, while US firms also kept stock inventories in check.
That was enough to push the London market to its eighth consecutive day of gains, rising 6.8 points to 6,631.8.
Telecoms company BT was among the fallers however as investors took profits from a 12% price surge prior to the weekend, fuelled by better-than-expected results. The stock slipped 3.7p to 305.8p.
Lloyds Banking Group was 0.9p cheaper at 58.1p after it announced plans for the departure of chairman Sir Win Bischoff within the next year.
In a disappointing session for the banking sector as a whole, Standard Chartered was 30.5p lower at 1,552.5p, Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 2.1p to 297.4p, Barclays eased 1.9p to 312.5p and HSBC fell 5.2p to 739.6p.
In the FTSE 250 Index, shares in Rank Group were under pressure after it said the success of “high roller” customers in London contributed to a 5% fall in like-for-like casino revenues in the last 18 weeks. Shares fell 5p to £1.61.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were G4S, up 8.4p to 256.1p, Antofagasta 27.5p ahead to 940.5p, BAE Systems 9.8p higher to 389.5p and Weir Group up 54p to £24.02.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 included International Airlines Group off 5.2p at 270.7p and Vedanta Resources 19p down to £12.80.
Carrie Keenan, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted that risers included Hunting, which added 2.41% to 850.25p. Meanwhile, Wood Group gained 1.17% to 819.5p.
Fallers included Optos, which gave up 1.11% at 157.875p, while EnQuest softened 1.27% to close at 132.2p.
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