London close: Higher finish for FTSE 100

22nd Aug 2011 16:35

The FTSE 100 quickly snapped out of its poor start to finish with gains, though these were somewhat off earlier highs following the start of trading on Wall Street.Gold producers such as Randgold Resources and Petropavlovsk were driven higher by rising prices for the precious metal.Oilfield services group Petrofac was in demand after it said it is on course to deliver like-for-like profit growth of at least 15% in 2011, in line with current market expectations.Essar Energy, the India-focused integrated energy company, fell back after it saw revenues soar by more than a third over the first half of 2011, primarily due to higher refining and marketing revenues, which offset lower power revenues.Pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline is to buy up over a quarter of UK-based biotech firm Autifony Therapeutics through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Glaxo Group.Mining colossus BHP Billiton rose after it said that all conditions relating to its tender offer for Petrohawk Energy have been satisfied. ICAP, the world's largest interdealer broker, was among the top risers of the FTSE 100 on Monday after its chief executive, Michael Spencer, hinted that the company could leave the EU to escape the "silly tax" that could be imposed by European leaders. Insulation board specialist Kingspan rose as it posted a 24% increase in half year trading profit and upped its dividend 12.5% following strong growth across most of its businesses.Micro Focus took a tumble after the acquisitive legacy software firm that suddenly found itself in the sights of predators said it is no longer involved in bid talks. While creating a headache for most, the recent volatility in stock markets has helped spread-betting firm IG Group achieve record levels of client activity in its first quarter. IG posted good gains.Amlin's shares fell lower after the group reported that it swung to a deep loss in the six months ended 30 June, as a result of what the FTSE 250 insurance and reinsurance underwriter called "unprecedented first half catastrophe loss activity".Smaller mining stocks have also been updating today, The resource estimate at gold miner Avocet's Inata mine license area in Burkina Faso has been upped by 59% to 3.36m ounces. The figure includes measured, indicated and inferred resources. "The growth of the Inata Mineral Resource surpasses our expectations and supports our view that the Inata gold mine is capable of sustaining higher production rates over a longer mine life," said chief executive Brett Richards. Also in Africa, North River Resources, which focuses on southern areas of the continent, said it has identified more "high grade intersections from its 100% owned Namib Lead-Zinc Project in Namibia." North River managing director David Steinepreis said: "This further high grade result demonstrates that Namib is shaping up to have considerable potential value for North River, and as such, it remains a core focus of our project portfolio in Southern Africa." Moving to Australia but returning to gold, Solomon Gold said that an additional 18 holes have shown further encouraging high grade gold and silver results from the Kauffmans prospect. Ariana Resources, which mines for gold in Turkey, has pulled another rabbit out of the hat. It has discovered a new buried gold-silver vein system at its Red Rabbit gold project in the west of the country.Elsewhere in commodities, Landkom International, the Ukrainian producer of agricultural commodities, wilted a little after saying it has agreed its first forward sale and export of maize this year. The company is selling 30,000 tonnes of its 2011 maize crop for an average of $278 per tonne, excluding value added tax (VAT). FTSE 100 - RisersCompass Group (CPG) 537.50p +3.97%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,870.00p +3.93%ICAP (IAP) 425.00p +3.79%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,211.00p +3.68%Fresnillo (FRES) 2,039.00p +3.50%AstraZeneca (AZN) 2,822.00p +3.31%Cairn Energy (CNE) 289.70p +2.95%Next (NXT) 2,214.00p +2.83%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,277.50p +2.82%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,954.00p +2.79%FTSE 100 - FallersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 19.67p -5.30%Essar Energy (ESSR) 247.90p -3.80%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 27.56p -2.89%Barclays (BARC) 146.25p -2.82%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 925.50p -2.53%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,329.00p -2.46%GKN (GKN) 179.20p -2.34%WPP (WPP) 578.50p -1.95%Xstrata (XTA) 933.40p -1.92%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,242.00p -1.58%FTSE 250 - RisersKenmare Resources (KMR) 40.40p +6.32%Petropavlovsk (POG) 779.00p +6.20%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 533.50p +6.06%Kier Group (KIE) 1,180.00p +4.98%Perform Group (PER) 157.50p +4.93%Genus (GNS) 907.00p +4.86%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 324.40p +4.71%Invensys (ISYS) 231.20p +4.29%Afren (AFR) 102.40p +4.28%IG Group Holdings (IGG) 409.40p +4.01%FTSE 250 - FallersPremier Foods (PFD) 13.35p -5.32%Amlin (AML) 310.50p -3.81%AZ Electronic Materials SA (WI) (AZEM) 215.00p -3.59%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 254.00p -3.42%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 41.08p -3.36%WH Smith (SMWH) 463.40p -2.38%Aveva Group (AVV) 1,495.00p -2.29%Charter International (CHTR) 622.00p -2.28%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 100.60p -2.04%Victrex (VCT) 1,213.00p -2.02%