London close: Good end to the day and week

13th Nov 2009 16:44

London headed into the weekend in an upbeat mood as Wall Street started the day strongly and investors took a shine to property giants as the close neared.British Land, shopping centre owner Liberty and Hammerson finished in the top five risers by the end of the day.A modest rally in the dollar has caused traders to pocket profits ahead of the weekend. ENRC, Vedanta, Xstrata and Antofagasta have fallen.British Airways has turned tail as the market assesses terms of its proposed merger with Spanish airline Iberia. BA will own 55% of the enlarged company and Iberia 45%. The merger is expected to save £360m per year with jobs to go both companies' head offices in London and Madrid. But there are concerns that BA's pension problems could scupper the deal.HSBC has continued its strong run following Tuesday's trading update. The global banking giant is seeing some stabilisation in its bad debts picture, especially in the US, while elsewhere business generally remains strong.Inter-dealer broker Tullett Prebon, a mid-cap stock, fell sharply after =revenue fell by 9% to £302m during the past four months. The firm blamed the drop in revenue between July and October, which rises to 15% at constant exchange rates, on tough comparatives. Tullett's FTSE 100 peer ICAP also fell back.Can maker Rexam fell it said that trading remains difficult, with can and packaging volumes still weak. It also announced today that it has appointed Graham Chipchase as its new chief executive to replace Leslie Van De Walle, who will retire at the end of the year. Chipchase has been at Rexam for some time having been director of plastic packaging since 2005 and previously finance director.Oil giant BG has confirmed the appearance of hydrocarbons at a new well in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, called Tupi North-East on block BM-S-11. Tupi North-East is located about 265 km from Rio de Janeiro and 18 km to the north-east of the Tupi discovery well.Distributor Electrocomponents' profits slumped 41% during the first half as the global recession caused a sharp drop in revenue, although the sales decline is slowing. Headline profit before tax fell to £24.8m in the six months ended 30 September, down from £42.2m a year ago. Revenue was 15% lower at £447.2m, or down 8.4% on a reported basis. Bus group Go-Ahead has been selected as the preferred bidder for Plymouth CityBus. Completion is subject to final due diligence and full council approval, expected at the end of November.Scalextric and model train set group Hornby has chopped its interim dividend citing the weaker sterling/dollar exchange rate, which has hit its profit and cash generation potential. Sales in the six months to September rose by 5% to £25.5m, but profits fell to £743,000 from £1.81m as margins came under pressure.FTSE 100 - RisersLiberty International (LII) 504.00p +3.92%British Land Co (BLND) 498.20p +2.79%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,558.00p +2.43%Wolseley (WOS) 1,397.00p +2.34%Hammerson (HMSO) 445.00p +2.32%FTSE 100 - FallersResolution (RSL) 92.50p -3.65%ICAP (IAP) 418.30p -2.65%Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 883.00p -2.59%Amec (AMEC) 801.50p -2.55%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,330.00p -2.47%FTSE 250 - RisersPayPoint (PAY) 495.10p +7.19%Inchcape (INCH) 33.40p +7.12%Genus (GNS) 606.00p +6.32%SIG (SHI) 129.30p +5.46%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 42.51p +4.96%FTSE 250 - FallersTullett Prebon (TLPR) 349.50p -12.47%Yell Group (YELL) 45.00p -3.23%Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 432.00p -2.57%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 451.20p -2.55%Avis Europe (AVE) 26.25p -2.34%