London open: Stocks extend gains on Bernanke comments, LSE rises

18th Jul 2013 08:30

Markets opened in positive territory on Thursday morning as investors continued to digest comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last night. He said that the Fed's $85bn-a-month asset purchase programme is "by no means on a pre-set course", saying that it very much depends on the economic outlook. This prompted a positive response from markets in the UK and US last night, with yesterday's worse-than-expected housing starts figures reinforcing the notion that the US recovery still remains fragile and that stimulus is still necessary for the time being. Investors will be keeping their eyes peeled for economic data today, including retail sales in the UK and initial jobless claims figures and the Philly Fed manufacturing index in the States. However the focus is likely to remain fixed on Bernanke as he testifies in front of the Senate Banking Committee."Traders were expecting a dovish Bernanke and that's exactly what they got, so with little fresh said, stocks markets are holding steady ahead of the second day of his testimony which may offer more insight, particularly as there is no scheduled press conference for the July FOMC meeting," said Market Strategist Ishaq Siddiqi from ETX Capital."The testimony so far appears to be an attempt by Bernanke to communicate his message more explicitly to markets which have been left perplexed ever since he let the tapering genie out of the bottle."FTSE 100: LSE rises as Q1 revenue jumpsExchange operator London Stock Exchange was a high riser after posting a 39% increase in first-quarter revenue, after growth across all business divisions, as it confirmed that Ian Axe will leave his position as CEO of LCH.Clearnet.Anglo American, one of the world's largest mining groups, was subdued after reporting mixed production results in the second quarter as increases to copper, platinum and diamond output were offset by declines in iron ore, coal and nickel. Investec said in a note this morning: "Overall our analyst sees this a fair quarter. Weakish iron ore sales are the main concern, and an area to be monitored, but it is not unusual to have weak quarters with a subsequent recovery."Petrofac gained after agreeing to increase its interest in Petrofac Emirates, the Abu Dhabi based joint venture with Mubdala Petroleum, to 75%. Technology firm Smiths Group was subdued after falling sharply yesterday on the back of a profit warning. JPMorgan Cazenove this morning downgraded the stock to 'neutral'.Mining giant BHP Billiton was lower after Beaufort Securities cut its rating to 'hold', while oil major Shell was rising despite a downgrade from Nomura to 'neutral'.easyJet was flying high after JPMorgan Cazenove raised its recommendation for the shares to 'overweight' and hiked its target price.FTSE 250: Fenner maintains full-year guidanceReinforced polymer technology firm Fenner said it has continued to make progress in the third quarter and reiterated results for the full year are expected to be in line with company expectations.Hochschild Mining was being helped higher by Westhouse Securities which upgraded the stock from 'sell' to 'neutral'.FTSE 100 - RisersLondon Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,524.00p +2.97%WPP (WPP) 1,202.00p +2.91%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 484.50p +2.30%easyJet (EZJ) 1,380.00p +2.22%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,289.00p +1.18%ITV (ITV) 156.40p +1.16%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 129.40p +1.09%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 275.90p +0.80%Compass Group (CPG) 890.50p +0.74%Whitbread (WTB) 3,163.00p +0.70%FTSE 100 - FallersTate & Lyle (TATE) 842.00p -2.04%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,419.00p -1.87%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,023.00p -1.82%Aggreko (AGK) 1,767.00p -1.34%Schroders (SDR) 2,450.00p -0.93%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,851.00p -0.91%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,113.00p -0.80%Old Mutual (OML) 197.40p -0.80%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 395.80p -0.60%Sage Group (SGE) 360.20p -0.52%FTSE 250 - RisersFenner (FENR) 338.50p +4.99%IP Group (IPO) 154.90p +2.58%Ashtead Group (AHT) 718.50p +2.28%Perform Group (PER) 515.50p +2.08%Sports Direct International (SPD) 612.50p +2.00%Ocado Group (OCDO) 326.30p +1.65%Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,320.00p +1.38%Perpetual Income & Growth Inv Trust (PLI) 363.90p +1.36%Diploma (DPLM) 598.00p +1.36%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 25.43p +1.31%FTSE 250 - FallersAfrican Barrick Gold (ABG) 102.50p -3.48%Polymetal International (POLY) 557.00p -2.54%NMC Health (NMC) 281.70p -2.19%Man Group (EMG) 87.45p -1.91%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 246.00p -1.87%Evraz (EVR) 100.20p -1.86%Rank Group (RNK) 162.00p -1.82%Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 521.50p -1.60%Soco International (SIA) 366.00p -1.56%Computacenter (CCC) 494.20p -1.55%BC