London close: Footsie ends at 10-month high

3rd Aug 2009 16:16

Blue chips closed at their highest since early October as investors piled into heavyweight miners and the big banks, although the index failed to hold above 4,700.Oil services specialist Petrofac was in pole position after UBS upgraded the shares to 'buy' and its target price to £10. Crude prices above $71 a barrel on dollar weakness and a bullish manufacturing survey from China also helped.Metal markets were also bullish, attracting buyers into mining stocks. Kazakhmys, Randgold, ENRC and Anglo American were hot property.But much of the focus was on the banks. HSBC rallied 5% after posting a profit before tax of $5bn for the half year, down from $10.2bn a year ago, but ahead of forecasts. It was 'pleased' with the results.Barclays added 7% after delivering profits of £3bn for the first half, an increase of 8% against the same period last year, despite £4.56bn of bad debt charges. Profit before tax for the period rose to £2.98bn from £2.75bn last year on record income of £16.25bn, up 37%. The numbers were as analysts expected.AstraZeneca has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for the use of its ONGLYZA to treat type 2 diabetes in adults. The treatment, which has been developed in collaboration with the biopharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb, is used to improve blood sugar control levels in diabetics.Hammerson's losses rose to £819m in the half-year to June, up from £417m, as its portfolio dropped by 27% to £4.75bn. NAV fell by 27.7% to 373p. Land Securities and other property groups fell even though Hammerson ended higher after suggesting the property market might be stabilising. On the downside, British American Tobacco was unloved as RBS downgraded the cigarette maker to 'hold' from 'buy'. Imperial Tobacco kept it company.Packaging group Rexam is to reduce its annual can making capacity by 1.3bn tonnes with the closure of its Dmitrov plant in Russia to save an annualised £6m in 2010. Restructuring costs will total £16m for 2009, it said.Pub group Mitchells & Butlers has confirmed the appointment Adam Fowle as chief executive with immediate effect after two months doing the job in an acting capacity. Fowle has been on the M&B board since October 2007 when he was appointed Managing Director for Restaurants.Online gambling firm 888 posted a fall in operating income as poker revenues softened. Total operating income in the three months to June 30 totalled $61m, compared with $69m in the same period the previous year. 'We expect further progress during the second half of the year especially during the fourth quarter,' the firm said.FTSE 100 - RisersPetrofac Ltd (PFC) 837.00p +11.53%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 931.50p +8.76%Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 925.00p +7.12%Xstrata (XTA) 865.50p +7.09%Barclays (BARC) 322.55p +6.70%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,869.00p +5.95%Randgold Resources (RRS) 3,845.00p +5.78%Antofagasta (ANTO) 797.00p +5.28%TUI Travel (TT.) 238.50p +5.07%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 635.90p +4.98%FTSE 100 - FallersBritish Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 530.50p -2.84%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 1,669.00p -2.45%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 2,808.00p -2.36%British American Tobacco (BATS) 1,823.00p -1.88%SABMiller (SAB) 1,363.00p -1.73%Centrica (CNA) 216.70p -1.61%Land Securities Group (LAND) 525.50p -1.59%Unilever (ULVR) 1,561.00p -1.20%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 469.90p -1.18%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,400.00p -1.13%FTSE 250 - RisersAshtead Group (AHT) 70.50p +13.25%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 160.00p +12.68%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 218.90p +11.40%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 275.00p +10.22%Cookson Group (CKSN) 342.70p +10.10%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,119.00p +7.84%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 280.30p +7.81%Aveva Group (AVV) 867.00p +7.30%Morgan Crucible (MGCR) 138.10p +7.26%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 244.30p +7.15%FTSE 250 - FallersRank Group (RNK) 73.60p -5.34%Fidessa (FDSA) 1,155.00p -4.39%Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 230.50p -3.76%Pace (PIC) 209.00p -3.13%Mcbride (MCB) 142.00p -2.74%PayPoint (PAY) 477.00p -2.65%Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 411.50p -2.60%Lancashire Holdings (LRE) 443.00p -2.15%Mitie Group (MTO) 232.00p -2.11%SEGRO (SGRO) 270.20p -2.10%