London close: US tax cut extension boosts shares

7th Dec 2010 16:52

Shares closed with decent gains Tuesday, though off earlier highs that came after an extension of George W Bush's tax cuts in the US lifted sentiment.US president Barack Obama has said that he will agree to a two-year extension on tax-cuts from the Bush era in a compromise arrangement that bodes well for working relations between the two main parties for the remainder of Obama's presidential term. Miners and oil stocks led the risers in London as the price of crude cruises past the $90 per barrel mark. Antofagasta, ENRC and African Barrick were the pick of the miners, while Tullow Oil and Essar Energy led the oil stocks higher.Resurgent oil giant BP was also firmer on reports that some of its assets in the North Sea are to next on the chopping block, as the company's asset sale programme continues.Meanwhile, good momentum across at its whole business helped supermarket giant Tesco, one of today's strong performers, lift sales by 8.8% in the past three months, though its international businesses again led the way. The UK also picked up towards the end of the quarter.Elsewhere in the supermarket sector it has been a while since the frequently reheated rumour of the investment arm of the Qatari sovereign wealth fund reviving its interest in a takeover of Sainsbury but the story is doing the rounds again today, boosting Sainsbury;s share price in the process.Anglo-Dutch household goods and foods giant Unilever moved higher after Morgan Stanley upped its ratings on the shares by two notches.Plumbing supplies firm Wolseley, another strong performer today, said its first quarter trading performance was slightly ahead of expectations. Revenue in the three months ended 31 October rose 2% to £3,471m from £3,395m the year before. Like for like sales grew 4%.Engine producer Rolls-Royce has made its second contract win announcement of the week, this time it's a £20m deal to provide the design, propulsion systems and deck machinery for four deep water platform supply vessels.Standard Life has agreed to buy pensions and life product back office software group Focus Solutions through a £42m, 140p per share, all cash offer. Housebuilder Bellway, the star performer in the FTSE 250 today, expects net interim profits this year will be up by 20% on last year as buyer interest has picked up a little since the government's comperehensive spending review. Reservations are now ahead of the board's expectations, although still slightly down compared with the same period last year, while the decline in consumer confidence appears to have levelled out, it says.Electronic teaching aid designer Promethean World pulled out of its recent slump as Aberforth Partners raised its stake in the company above 3%. The shares have been under a cloud since slumping to a new low on Thursday of last week after a profit warning.At the company's AGM, Artisan (UK)'s chairman Michael Stevens said trading conditions are the toughest the residential and commercial property developer has ever faced. This has led to a drop in the Artisan share price of more than 10%. FTSE 100 - RisersAfrican Barrick Gold (ABG) 600.00p +6.10%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 226.40p +5.30%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,528.00p +4.87%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 372.80p +4.28%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 944.50p +3.34%Essar Energy (ESSR) 570.00p +2.89%Unilever (ULVR) 1,906.00p +2.86%Wolseley (WOS) 1,880.00p +2.73%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,200.00p +2.66%Invensys (ISYS) 345.90p +2.49%FTSE 100 - FallersICAP (IAP) 519.00p -1.70%Aggreko (AGK) 1,538.00p -1.60%International Power (IPR) 413.60p -1.50%Serco Group (SRP) 565.00p -1.14%British Airways (BAY) 269.50p -1.10%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,971.00p -0.90%National Grid (NG.) 547.50p -0.90%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 408.00p -0.85%Hammerson (HMSO) 414.70p -0.81%Rexam (REX) 306.60p -0.74%FTSE 250 - RisersBellway (BWY) 612.50p +9.77%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 86.30p +9.52%Persimmon (PSN) 416.40p +8.81%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 151.00p +7.47%Hansen Transmissions International NV (DI) (HSN) 58.00p +7.41%Redrow (RDW) 129.30p +6.60%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 29.00p +6.50%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 658.00p +5.96%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 27.32p +5.89%Hunting (HTG) 693.00p +5.80%FTSE 250 - FallersSenior (SNR) 138.50p -2.88%PZ Cussons (PZC) 399.00p -2.44%DS Smith (SMDS) 187.80p -2.34%Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 540.00p -2.26%Filtrona PLC (FLTR) 239.30p -2.25%Elementis (ELM) 122.40p -2.08%Restaurant Group (RTN) 278.50p -2.01%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 515.50p -1.81%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 331.50p -1.81%Computacenter (CCC) 373.10p -1.79%