London close: Big gains after eventful day

13th Jul 2011 16:33

Stocks finished with good gains at the end of an eventful day.A raft of updates sent shares in both directions in early dealings, but the main drama came later in the day when Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation withdrew its bid for satellite broadcaster BSkyB. Stocks were boosted in afternoon trading by comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke suggesting that more quantitative easing may be on the cards in the world's biggest economy.SuperGroup, famous for the Superdry brand, was very much in fashion after it said full-year underlying pre-tax profit soared by 89% to £50.2m, from £26.5m previously, surpassing consensus estimates of £49.6m. Group revenue jumped by 71% from £139.4m to £237.9m, bang in line with expectations. Retail sales jumped from £86.4m to £147.4m, while wholesale sales increased from £53m to £90.5m. Sticking with clothes, iconic British luxury brand Burberry moved ahead after underlying sales soared by 34% in the first quarter, driven largely by strong retail growth in China. "We are pleased with Burberry's start to the year, with double-digit growth balanced across retail and wholesale and all regions and product categories," said chief executive officer Angela Ahrendts. However, Marks & Spencer was the worst performer despite seeing sales (excluding VAT) rise by 3.2% in the 13 weeks to 2 July, compared with the year before. Like-for-like (lfl) sales in the UK were flat on the general merchandise sales side, in line with the prediction made by broker Matrix Group, while food sales grew 3.3% on a lfl basis yoy, ahead of Matrix's forecast of 3.0% growth.News Corporation, the newspaper publisher controlled by Rupert Murdoch, has said it is withdrawing its bid for full control of the satellite broadcaster BSkyB. It made the announcement just as the House of Commons was preparing to vote on a motion calling on Murdoch to ditch the plans. The news comes the week after the News of the World (NOTW), News Corp's Sunday tabloid, was closed down following widespread allegations of phone hacking. The shares fell after the announcement but closed in the blue.Mining titan Xstrata was in demand after taking full control of the Pallas Green zinc project in Ireland, buying out the 23.6% interest held by its joint venture partner, Minco, for $19.4m. Sector peers Fresnillo, Antofagasta Randgold, Lonmin, ENRC, Kazakhmys, BHP Billiton and Anglo American were also firmer, tracking metals prices higher.Back in the retail sector, Tile and wood flooring specialist Topps Tiles was trampled on after it said it continued to experience subdued trading in the 13 weeks to 2 July. Revenues were down by 1.9% on a like-for-like basis (excluding the impact of new openings and closures) from the same period the previous year. Total revenues were down by 1.6%. Engineering firm Morgan Crucible motored ahead after it said positive sales momentum has continued since its last trading update in May as it experiences a broad recovery across its markets. "The strong trading performance has been driven by broad-based recovery and growth across our range of end-markets, geographies and new product areas," it said in a company update.Shares in fluid technology group, Pursuit Dynamics, leapt 15% on Wednesday after it announced it was trialling its technology with Thames Water. The firm said its PDX waste to energy system, which is designed to remove biogas from sewage, will be installated at Thames Water's Reading plant and is scheduled to begin trials in August 2011. DDD, the AIM-listed 3D solutions firm, was bursting out of screens after saying it has signed a contract with what it claims is a leading mobile phone manufacturer. The deal will see DDD's software, which automatically converts video from 2D to 3D, bundled into the manufacturer's forthcoming 3D phone, using the Android operating system. South America focused oil and gas firm, Amerisur Resources, fell after it reported planning delays as it seeks to begin drilling of new locations in Columbia in the final quarter of 2011. Monitise, the AIM 50 mobile banking and payments provider, was in demand after saying it expects to double 2010 revenues by the end of 2011. The confident prediction comes in the firm's pre-close trading statement, which also reveals the company is now handling more than 10 million banking transactions a month. ReThink Group, the AIM listed recruitment and consulting firm, shot up after saying revenues in the six months to the 30th June 2011 are expected to be approximately 27% ahead of 2010. The purchase of Berkley Recruitment in June is also expected to lift revenues significantly in the second half of the year.FTSE 100 - RisersBurberry Group (BRBY) 1,531.00p +6.54%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,520.00p +5.56%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,440.00p +4.31%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,365.00p +3.96%John Wood Group (WG.) 688.00p +3.23%Land Securities Group (LAND) 869.00p +3.15%IMI (IMI) 1,096.00p +3.01%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,439.00p +2.79%Xstrata (XTA) 1,384.50p +2.59%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,349.00p +2.35%FTSE 100 - FallersMarks & Spencer Group (MKS) 363.80p -2.47%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,547.00p -1.65%Kingfisher (KGF) 254.10p -1.63%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 35.52p -1.31%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,057.00p -1.21%British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,790.50p -0.92%ARM Holdings (ARM) 591.50p -0.84%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 295.60p -0.81%Unilever (ULVR) 1,994.00p -0.80%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,474.00p -0.74%FTSE 250 - RisersSupergroup (SGP) 1,062.00p +21.03%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 355.80p +11.22%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 48.71p +8.82%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 450.00p +5.68%Centamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 128.90p +5.66%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 316.80p +5.35%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 472.00p +4.56%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 474.00p +4.41%Betfair Group (BET) 706.00p +4.28%Petropavlovsk (POG) 797.00p +4.18%FTSE 250 - FallersAZ Electronic Materials SA (WI) (AZEM) 288.50p -4.47%FirstGroup (FGP) 337.90p -4.28%Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 237.40p -3.89%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 84.45p -3.87%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 184.00p -3.41%Unite Group (UTG) 211.80p -3.38%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 325.50p -3.27%Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 312.00p -3.26%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 302.50p -3.23%RPC Group (RPC) 355.50p -3.16%