London close: Calmer start to the week, Footsie edges 31 higher

15th Aug 2011 16:35

A strong start on Wall Street and large gains from the miners helped London's blue chip index finish 0.57% higher on Monday. Meanwhile the banks limited gains on the Footsie over concerns over their level of exposure to Eurozone debt.Fluctuations in trading on Monday were not as severe as in recent weeks as the Footsie traded within a narrow intraday range between 5,319 and 5,377, in contrast to the triple digit swings seen the week before. That said, the index struggled to find direction for most of the day, and closed just 31 points higher at 5,351. After two weeks of extremely volatile trade, the blue chip index now stands over 12% lower than the 52-week high of 6,091. Mining peers Fresnillo, Kazakhmys and Lonmin were among the top risers on the blue chip index after better-than-expected economic data came out of Japan, the world's third-largest economy. Japan's gross domestic product fell by 0.3% in the three months ended June, while many were expected a 0.7% contraction, bolstering sentiment in the mining sector as investors showed their optimism for demand.FTSE 250 miners, too, were registering impressive gains, with Kenmare Resources, Talvivaara Mining and New World Resources among the best performers.New World Resources, the central-Europe focused coal miner, finished the day over 10% higher, attempting to recover after the recent sell-off. Despite the comeback on Monday, the share price is still around 45% lower than three months ago.Standard Life was given a boost after JP Morgan Cazenove upgraded its rating on the insurance giant from neutral to overweight.Meanwhile, the banks were out of favour on the back of escalating concerns over the Eurozone crisis. The European Central Bank (ECB) revealed on Monday that it bought a record €22bn of government bonds last week, in an attempt to prevent the debt crisis from engulfing Italy and Spain. Also denting sentiment were rumours that the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) is to impose stricter-than-expected 'ring fencing' regulations on the banks' retail and investment banking activities. Barclays, Lloyds and Standard Chartered were all in the red.Oil titan BP was in demand amid speculation that it is looking to offload its 27.5% stake in the Shell-run Shearwater field in the North Sea, according to people familiar to the situation. Initial forecasts expect BP to pocket around £150m from the sale. A rising oil price is also thought to be bolstering gains for the oil company.FTSE 250 international recruitment firm Michael Page was sharply lower. It made a flying start to 2011 but said profit growth in the banking sector has tailed off in the second half of the year. Rockhopper Exploration, the North Falkland Basin-based oil and gas firm, saw shares climb after new seismic data suggested that more oil could be found in its Sea Lion Main Complex (SLMC). "The company believes that up to approximately 10% additional volume could be contained within licence PL004, in which Rockhopper has a non-operated 7.5% working interest." Shares in Desire Petroleum, which holds the remaining 92.5% interest, jumped nearly 20%.Spectris's shares rose after it announced that it is to acquire Omega, a privately held US business providing measurement and control instrumentation services to industrial and academic customers, for $475m (£290m). BCFTSE 100 - RisersAmec (AMEC) 949.00p +4.80%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,796.00p +4.12%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,050.00p +3.45%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 267.80p +3.12%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,958.00p +3.11%BP (BP.) 416.70p +2.93%Lonmin (LMI) 1,200.00p +2.92%Schroders (SDR) 1,523.00p +2.63%GKN (GKN) 202.20p +2.38%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,081.00p +2.27%FTSE 100 - FallersSage Group (SGE) 252.00p -2.10%Kingfisher (KGF) 231.30p -2.07%Barclays (BARC) 183.35p -2.06%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 33.23p -1.73%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,421.00p -1.49%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,580.00p -1.19%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 26.19p -1.13%ARM Holdings (ARM) 520.50p -1.05%Wolseley (WOS) 1,595.00p -0.99%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 583.00p -0.85%