London open: FTSE 100 breaches 6,700 after Japanese GDP

16th May 2013 08:35

The winning streak on the FTSE 100 continued into its 11th day on Thursday as stronger-than-expected growth in Japan boosted London's benchmark index to fresh five-and-a-half-year highs.The FTSE 100 has been in positive territory since the start of May and was teetering around the 6,700 mark this morning, a level not seen since October 2007. The index's all-time closing high of 6,930 was recorded in December 1999, a mark which could be surpassed before the end of 2013, according to some analysts.Japanese gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at the fastest rate in a year during the first quarter of 2013, showing that newly-appointed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new policies aimed at boosting growth are paying off, though this is partly because the yen has weakened substantially since aggressive monetary easing began. The Asian powerhouse registered an annualised GDP expansion of 3.5% and grew 0.9% quarter-on-quarter, beating consensus estimates of 2.8% and 0.7%, respectively."Japan's new PM Abe's economic framework, 'Abenomics', appears to be working," said Market Strategist Ishaq Siddiqi from ETX Capital."The country's economic growth outperformed its industrialised peers during the period and the reading gives a strong signal to the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to continue aggressively adding stimulus."Investors yesterday chose to look on the bright side of poor GDP data from the Eurozone as it sparked hopes that the European Central Bank would continue to employ more measures to kick-start growth in the single-currency region. Eurozone GDP shrunk by 0.2% in the first quarter, worse than the 0.1% fall expected.Also supporting stocks were comments from Sir Mervyn King in the Bank of England's Quarterly Inflation Report who said that the Bank's projections are now for "stronger growth and weaker inflation" than it expected previously.Aviva impresses with first-quarter updateAviva, the insurance group which surprised the market in March with an unexpected cut to its dividend, said this morning that it is delivering on its turnaround strategy, causing shares to jump early on. New business was up 18% in the first quarter, while operating expenses were down 10%.Mining group Vedanta was also making gains after rewarding shareholders with a 6.0% rise in its dividend after increasing earnings and revenues in 2012. Sector peer Antofagasta also rose despite saying that revenues fell 14.6% in the first quarter as the price of copper and gold dropped.Petrofac fell after saying that operations at its In Salah project in Algeria would restart in the second half following a terrorist attack in January. The company said it expects modest growth in net profits this year.Utilities group National Grid was also lower despite revealing a solid increase in full-year profits. Analysts at Societe Generale said this morning that the share-price debate is now "more focused on valuation than earnings" after a strong rise year-to-date.Telecoms group Vodafone edged higher after revealed that it is to offer high-speed fixed-line broadband and internet TV services in Germany through a new collaboration with German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom.FTSE 100 - RisersVedanta Resources (VED) 1,295.00p +3.35%Aviva (AV.) 331.90p +2.72%easyJet (EZJ) 1,257.00p +2.70%William Hill (WMH) 444.80p +2.04%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 273.20p +1.56%TUI Travel (TT.) 360.80p +1.52%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,444.00p +1.20%BT Group (BT.A) 316.00p +1.09%BG Group (BG.) 1,235.50p +1.06%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,436.00p +0.91%FTSE 100 - FallersPetrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,322.00p -2.94%National Grid (NG.) 828.00p -1.95%Evraz (EVR) 156.20p -1.82%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,264.00p -1.48%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,014.00p -0.98%Schroders (SDR) 2,536.00p -0.94%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,755.00p -0.94%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 296.20p -0.84%Severn Trent (SVT) 2,075.00p -0.72%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 283.20p -0.63%FTSE 250 - RisersThomas Cook Group (TCG) 160.50p +10.92%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 38.83p +6.35%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 134.90p +5.23%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 139.60p +4.10%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 236.00p +3.96%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,029.00p +3.83%Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 389.60p +3.29%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,531.00p +3.24%Persimmon (PSN) 1,182.00p +3.05%Lonmin (LMI) 275.00p +2.57%FTSE 250 - FallersSynthomer (SYNT) 209.10p -7.07%3i Group (III) 348.80p -4.02%Carpetright (CPR) 616.00p -2.92%Grainger (GRI) 150.00p -2.85%Stagecoach Group (SGC) 306.50p -2.08%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,010.00p -1.94%SIG (SHI) 169.30p -1.91%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 323.00p -1.85%Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 555.00p -1.77%Rank Group (RNK) 155.10p -1.71%BC