London close: Whitbread leads the Footsie higher

26th Apr 2012 16:41

- Whitbread up 6pc, Astra down 6pc- Economic data from UK and US comes in mixed- Fed sees growth picking up graduallyThe Footsie rallied in afternoon trade to finish close to its intraday highs reached in the morning session. Investors had to digest a barrage of company results and trading updates from some heavyweight blue chips today, whilst assessing a variety of mixed economic data from home and abroad. In domestic news, net lending to companies fell by £3bn in March, according to the latest figures from the British Bankers Association (BBA). This was much a bigger drop than usual, with the six-month average showing a contraction of £0.9bn in lending. Consumer confidence hit a nine-month high in March, according to a survey out on Thursday. The Consumer Confidence Index from the Nationwide Building Society registered 53, seven points higher than at the same time last year. However, the index remains well below its long term average of 76.The FTSE 100 dropped into the red after midday in the wake of worse-than-expected jobless claims data Stateside. However, sentiment was then lifted later on after the National Association of Realtors revealed that the US pending home sales index rose to a 23-month high.Markets were also reacting to last night's comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who said that monetary policy in the US was "more or less in the right place". "The Committee expects economic growth to remain moderate over coming quarters and then to pick up gradually," according to the Federal Open Market Committee statement. FTSE 100: Whitbread and Shell provide a boostCoffee shops, restaurants and hotels operator Whitbread jumped over 6% after it topped expectations in full-year profits and sales, with the Costa Coffee chain once again driving growth. Shore Capital and Peel Hunt have reiterated their buy ratings on the stock today, while Charles Stanley maintained its accumulate rating, saying that it "anticipates some moderate upgrades to our 2013 EPS estimate".Oil and gas titan Royal Dutch Shell was in demand after its upstream activities drove a bigger-than-expected increase in the Anglo-Dutch group's first quarter earnings. Consumer goods giant Unilever rose after saying it had a good start to the year and was on track to hit its full year targets, with turnover increasing by 11.9% in the first quarter. Pharmaceuticals group Shire issued its first-quarter results at noon, saying that it still expects food earnings growth in 2012 after a strong first quarter which saw total revenues rise by 21%. However, first-quarter figures from sector peer AstraZeneca were not taken well by the market with shares down over 6% by the close after the company scaled back full-year core earnings per share guidance and revealed that its CEO would be retiring.Miners were performing well on the whole, with Randgold, Fresnillo, Xstrata and BHP Billiton making gains. Glencore rose after saying it has signed up for bigger-than-expected revolving credit facilities as financial institutions fell over themselves to lend money to the commodities trader. However, sector peer Kazakhmys was lower after severe weather and transportation issues adversely affected copper cathode output in the first quarter of 2012. UK lender Barclays swung between gains and losses throughout the day but finally settled higher. While adjusted pre-tax profits beat expectations in the first quarter, the group said that "the continued challenging market conditions mean it is too early to establish the trend for the year". FTSE 250: Essar renews major agreement in IndiaIndia-focused energy group Essar surged after announcing the renewal of a major product sale and purchase agreement with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL). Chemicals group Elementis wasn't far behind after saying it is on track to hit full-year earnings forecasts with trading in the first three months of 2012 ahead of the same period last year. Engineering firm Senior rose after trading slightly ahead of its expectations in the first quarter, as overall trading conditions remained positive in its Aerospace and Flexonics divisions.FTSE 100 - RisersWhitbread (WTB) 1,921.00p +6.19%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,620.00p +5.14%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,720.00p +3.61%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,266.50p +3.54%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 31.48p +3.21%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,195.50p +3.17%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,554.00p +2.85%BP (BP.) 444.25p +2.76%Unilever (ULVR) 2,135.00p +2.69%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,040.00p +1.90%FTSE 100 - FallersAstraZeneca (AZN) 2,666.50p -6.14%Evraz (EVR) 364.10p -3.06%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,195.00p -2.92%Polymetal International (POLY) 915.00p -2.56%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 269.50p -2.18%CRH (CRH) 1,220.00p -1.77%Aviva (AV.) 312.40p -1.76%Man Group (EMG) 93.75p -1.52%Next (NXT) 2,933.00p -1.44%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 871.00p -1.25%FTSE 250 - RisersEssar Energy (ESSR) 133.60p +5.95%Elementis (ELM) 207.80p +5.22%CSR (CSR) 210.60p +4.67%Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 122.60p +4.16%Senior (SNR) 211.80p +4.13%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 290.80p +3.49%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 50.35p +3.47%Telecity Group (TCY) 813.00p +3.04%Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 314.00p +2.95%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 73.15p +2.88%FTSE 250 - FallersChemring Group (CHG) 316.90p -6.52%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 176.00p -6.13%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 775.00p -4.26%Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 255.00p -3.41%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 86.60p -3.13%Henderson Group (HGG) 119.10p -2.70%Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 221.50p -2.34%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 151.00p -2.27%SEGRO (SGRO) 226.20p -2.16%Cobham (COB) 233.60p -1.97%BC