Britain’s FTSE 100 Index powered to its highest level for more than four years yesterday as America’s reporting season got off to an upbeat start.
Angus Campbell, head of market analysis at Capital Spreads, said: “It was ‘risk on’ from investors who have become increasingly optimistic in 2013 that the global economy is on the mend following a good start to the US corporate earnings season from aluminium producer Alcoa.”
A sector-wide upgrade of UK banks by Swiss peer UBS also helped the Footsie, which added 45.02 points or 0.7 per cent to 6,098.65, a level not seen since May 2008. UBS said the UK was over “its experiment of combining fiscal and monetary austerity” and upped its price targets on financial stocks following the relaxation of liquidity rules.
Lloyds surged 5 per cent to 53.4p to top the risers’ board and Royal Bank of Scotland was not far behind, up 4 per cent at 349.9p. Standard Chartered was up 3 per cent at 1,657.5p.
Meanwhile, Alcoa’s optimism was enough to tempt traders into London’s mining sector, with Anglo American ahead 13p at 2,041p, Evraz up 7.8p to 279.7 and Fresnillo gaining 28p to 1,770p.
Scottish energy services firm Wood Group also made gains after a broker upgrade from Goldman Sachs. The investment bank moved its recommendation for the Aberdeen-based company from “neutral” to “buy” with a heightened target price of 940p. The shares were up 24.5p or 3 per cent at 774p.
Outside the top flight, shares in Frankie & Benny’s owner Restaurant Group slipped 5 per cent despite a rise in like-for-like sales for 2012 and forecasting results slightly ahead of expectations. The City’s ongoing concern about price discounting meant shares fell 18.2p to 364p.
NEW YORK: Wall Street rose last night, as the first group of earnings reports started to trickle in. While Alcoa gave a bullish demand outlook, the results didn’t give a direction of how corporations did in Q4.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 61.97 points, or 0.46 per cent, at 13,390.82 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ended the day up 3.84 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 1,460.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 14.00 points, or 0.45 per cent, closing at 3,105.81.
