London close: FTSE 100 rallies to close with gains

16th Aug 2011 16:50

The FTSE 100 found strength as the day progressed, helped by some economic data from the US, and managed to finish with gains.Sentiment had been depressed earlier on by figures on this side of the pond. The Eurozone economy grew by a paltry 0.2% in the second quarter compared with the previous three month period amid a sharp slowdown in growth in the trading bloc's economic powerhouse Germany.Here, the benchmark inflation rate looks set to hit 5% later this year after resuming its upward march in July. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose 4.4% in the year to July, up from 4.2% in the 12 months to June, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.Data was a bit better in the US. The number of houses builders started work on in the US fell by 1.5% 604,000 in the year to July, slightly better than expectations of a drop to 600,000. Separate figures showed that industrial production rose by 0.9% in July. With the gold price rising, precious metal miners were the main stocks in demand in the FTSE 100. Silver miner Fresnillo and gold miner Randgold Resources were wanted.Resolution, the UK insurance buyout firm founded by Clive Cowdery, dipped into the red despite saying that it is on target to achieving its restructuring strategy as operating profits more than doubled in the six months ended 30 June.Production more than trebled at one of Heritage Oil's Russian fields, as results from drilling and testing one well exceeded pre-drill expectations. The Thomas Cook Group, the Co-operative Group and the Midlands Co-operative are to merge after the Competition Commission gave the go-ahead for the deal, but shares in Thomas Cook took a tumble.Water group Pennon said trading has been in line with management expectations since March 31.Aviation services and newspaper distribution group John Menzies took off after it posted a sharp rise in profits in the half year to 30 June despite declining newspaper revenues. Social housing and care provider, Mears Group, built gainsafter it announced record interim results, hailing "unprecedented levels of opportunity in the public sector". The firm said profits before tax came in at £14.1m for the six months to the end of June, a 7% increase on the year before. Sportingbet attracted punters after fellow online gaming firm, GVC Holdings, confirmed it is in talks to buy Sportingbet's Turkish language website business. Harvey Nash, the white collar recruitment firm, was in demand after it said it has seen "a strong performance across all key geographic segments" in the first half of the year. The group's interim results, which will be released at the end of September, are expected to report an increase of 20% in revenue and gross profit, as well as an increase in pre-tax profit of not less than 40% against the same period in 2010 for the six months ended 31 July. FTSE 100 - RisersRandgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,435.00p +4.13%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,861.00p +3.62%ICAP (IAP) 444.50p +3.25%Standard Life (SL.) 212.40p +3.01%Old Mutual (OML) 116.70p +2.46%Kingfisher (KGF) 236.50p +2.25%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 289.60p +2.04%John Wood Group (WG.) 579.50p +2.02%British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,784.00p +1.98%BG Group (BG.) 1,318.50p +1.93%FTSE 100 - FallersBritish Land Co (BLND) 544.00p -3.55%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 458.00p -2.99%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,383.00p -2.95%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,228.00p -2.85%Glencore International (GLEN) 396.00p -2.73%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,216.00p -2.25%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,461.00p -2.21%Essar Energy (ESSR) 294.00p -2.10%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,358.00p -2.02%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,029.00p -2.00%FTSE 250 - RisersBwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 114.20p +8.04%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 43.89p +6.30%Pace (PIC) 105.70p +4.97%Synergy Health (SYR) 924.00p +3.30%Victrex (VCT) 1,336.00p +2.77%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 107.50p +2.38%Premier Foods (PFD) 14.81p +2.00%Berendsen (BRSN) 462.80p +1.83%BH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 11.15 +1.64%Unite Group (UTG) 169.10p +1.62%FTSE 250 - FallersThomas Cook Group (TCG) 52.25p -8.17%AZ Electronic Materials SA (WI) (AZEM) 230.70p -5.06%Afren (AFR) 107.30p -4.88%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 587.50p -4.70%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 368.00p -4.61%Telecom Plus (TEP) 647.00p -4.43%St James's Place (STJ) 340.50p -4.33%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 45.50p -4.29%Ashtead Group (AHT) 118.10p -4.22%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 360.30p -4.05%