Britain's leading share index closed higher on Thursday, boosted by firmer US stock markets and with support from banks such as Royal Bank of Scotland, but weaker miners tempered the rise.
Analysts say the FTSE 100, which flip-flopped between negative and positive territory during the session, could be steadying after tumbling in May on the back of inflation and interest rate fears in the US and sliding commodity prices.
The FTSE 100 share index closed 25.9 points, or 0.5 percent, higher at 5,749.7 points, having traded as high as 5,754.8 points in early moves and fallen as far 5,680.6.
The index shed 5 percent in May - its biggest monthly loss since 2003 - and is 6.3 percent down from a five-year high of 6,137.1 hit in April. In May the FTSE fell to 5,510.5, more than wiping out the year's gains.
"What the market is trying to do is attempt to establish a platform for stability," said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin. "It is too early to say we have seen the low but it would not surprise me if we had."
"The defensive end of the market has done well relatively speaking as the market has been falling but any time there has been a recovery the more cyclical areas have picked up. It suggests to me that all the bits that moved the market and kept the momentum strong still seem to be present."
Banks contributed almost 10 points to the upside with Britain's fifth-biggest bank, Lloyds TSB, up 2.4 percent after it held a dinner meeting with 14 analysts, which traders said included upbeat comments.
Lloyds declined to give details of the presentation but one dealer said the meeting "gave the impression that things are going fine at Lloyds TSB", while another cited positive comments on trends and costs at the bank.
Royal Bank of Scotland added 2.4 percent after the stock market debut of Bank of China left the UK bank with a stake worth three times its original investment in its Chinese peer.
RBS led a consortium taking a stake in BOC last August, paying $1.6 billion. The stake is now worth $4.7 billion.
Steelmaker Corus was another focus of attention, up 1.9 percent after a Russian newspaper said Roman Abramovich, owner of English soccer club Chelsea and Russia's richest man, was in talks with the Anglo-Dutch group to buy a stake in it. Corus declined to comment.
Topping the FTSE leader board, Man Group climbed 3.5 percent after the company, the world's largest listed hedge fund firm, reported higher than expected profits and said it was confident about its outlook for the year.
But miners, which helped fuel the FTSE's run to a five-year high but also provided much of the momentum behind the market sell-off, traded lower as copper, zinc, gold, silver and other metals fell.
Anglo American and Antofagasta fell more than 2 percent each, followed by a drop of more than 3 percent for Rio Tinto.
Online gaming firm PartyGaming fell 3.1 percent on market talk company directors could be looking to reduce their stakes in the firm.
Back on the upside, utility Scottish Power added 2.1 percent after investment bank Merrill Lynch included the stock on its 'Europe 1' list of recommended stocks.
Among mid-cap movers, car hire group Avis Europe rose more than 6 percent on talk that its biggest shareholder, Belgium car distributor D'Ieteren, would bid for the remaining stake in the UK-listed group. D'Ieteren, which already owns about 60 percent of Avis, and Avis both declined to comment.
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