FTSE surge broaches 4,000 mark
A strong rally sees the FTSE 100 index head towards the 4,000-point level
The FTSE 100 index closed up 163.2 points at 3,926.14, just off its intraday high, while the FTSE 250 index added 2.4% or 149.6 points to close at 6,373.9. UK indices traded firmly higher from the start on Tuesday but positive trading on Wall Street provided the extra boost needed to take the FTSE 100 up above the 3,900 mark.
Retailers were a strong force behind the blue-chip index’s gains after Marks & Spencer reported forecast-busting sales figures for the fourth quarter, reassuring investors over the state of the industry in the current economic climate. Analysts and investors alike reacted positively to the update, with Numis Securities upgrading its recommendation and raising its price target.
M&S shares rallied 11.9% to 296p, while other retailers including Kingfisher and Tesco took on 6.3% to 149.7p and 5.6% to 333.4p, respectively.
After taking a bit of a beating in yesterday’s market sell-off, insurers were back in demand today, led by Old Mutual, up 13.3% at 51.9p, which was tracked by Prudential, 9.8% better at 337p, and Aviva, 6.8% ahead at 216.25p.
The mining sector was also strong, taking back much of what it lost yesterday and bolstered by earnings news from Kazakhmys. The Kazakh miner, which has a 26% stake in Eurasian Natural Resources, said it is considering selling up to 50% of its power business from which it could raise more than $500 million as it announced net profit fell 36% in 2008.
The miner’s stake in ENRC, however, has increased from $1.6 billion a the end of last year to $2.2 billion by March 27 as the value of its fellow Kazakh operator’s shares rose.
Kazakhmys gained 11.6% to 371p, while ENRC took on 8.4% to 451.25p. Other blue-chip miners increased by 5-10% over the session, with the exception of Rio Tinto, which underperformed, up only 0.6% at 2,350p as hopes waned that BHP Billiton could revive its bid approach after November.
As well as their return to favour, financials also received a fillip from interdealer broker ICAP, which today gave a comforting trading update and said it is “very positive” about its medium-term outlook. ICAP shares were 11.5% higher by end of play, while asset manager Man Group added 9.7% to 218.5p and Lloyds Banking Group climbed up 9.1% to 70.7p. Banking peer Barclays, however, was one of the few FTSE 100 fallers. The group today confirmed speculation that it is in exclusive talks with private equity firm CVC Partners regarding the sale of its ETF business iShares. Barclays stock closed down 0.7% at 148p.
Finally, pharmaceuticals group Shire enjoyed a strong session, up 8.5% at 863p after signing a three-year deal with GlaxoSmithKline to co-market the former’s key product Vyvanse. Glaxo shares ticked up 4.6% to 1,087.5p.