London open: Upbeat start for Footsie

30th Oct 2009 08:18

London's blue chips have opened higher thanks to upbeat economic and company news out this morning.Economic data released Friday shows that UK consumers are more confident now than at any time in the last 21 months. The GfK/NOP consumer confidence index improved to -13 in October, the best number since January 2008. That's up from -16 the month before, beats forecasts for a read of -14 and is 23 points better than this time last year.Advertising giant WPP is leading the risers after it said it expects the second half to show a marked improvement in profitability and said overall conditions are "less worse". In the third quarter reported revenues rose by 16.7% to £2.007bn.Directories group Yell, which yesterday extended the deadline for its refinancing to 5pm that evening, jumped after it said that it has made significant progress over the last 24 hours and is now awaiting acceptances from the final two lenders.Rolls-Royce has won a $720m order to supply Trent 700 engines for ten Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330 aircraft. Deliveries for the planes, six of which have been ordered by Virgin Atlantic and four by aircraft leasing company AerCap, will begin in 2011. The contract includes long-term TotalCare service support.Iron ore producer Ferrexpo has announced that it will pay an interim dividend of 3.3 cents a share, having deferred the decision when it delivered interim results in August due to market uncertainty.Elsewhere in aerospace, aero-engineer and defence systems group Meggitt is trading in line with expectations and said it has seen signs of stabilisation. In the last four months the group said it seen signs of stabilisation in the key macro drivers of its civil aftermarket, namely, air traffic and the number of landings made by the business jet fleet.F&C Asset Management's third quarter got a lift from surging stock markets and favourable currency movements, sending assets under management up 12.3% during the period.South African gold miner Harmony Gold lifted production of the yellow metal by 6% against expectations of 4% in the quarter to September 30 but felt the pinch of a stronger rand.The government's car scrappage scheme has done Lookers a big favour, helping the car dealer deliver third quarter results "significantly" ahead of both budget and last year's effort.Port operator Forth Ports said trading within its ports division is in line with expectations with new business initiatives and tonnage increases in some areas helping to reinforce the resilience of its business in a difficult market.FTSE 100 - RisersWPP Group (WPP) 570.00p +4.59%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 89.21p +3.73%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 44.53p +2.67%Friends Provident Group (FP.) 84.00p +1.82%Man Group (EMG) 313.40p +1.75%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 345.20p +1.44%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,245.00p +1.22%FTSE 100 - FallersInmarsat (ISAT) 560.50p -1.23%Sage Group (SGE) 218.90p -1.17%Vodafone Group (VOD) 137.40p -1.12%BT Group (BT.A) 131.80p -0.90%Cairn Energy (CNE) 2,744.00p -0.65%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,247.00p -0.56%Randgold Resources (RRS) 4,160.00p -0.48%FTSE 250 - RisersYell Group (YELL) 56.65p +15.26%Croda International (CRDA) 766.50p +4.29%Punch Taverns (PUB) 87.90p +4.02%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 76.40p +3.95%SThree (STHR) 256.90p +3.92%Chloride Group (CHLD) 168.00p +3.45%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 153.60p +3.09%FTSE 250 - FallersInterserve (IRV) 228.10p -1.93%Brit Insurance Holding (BRE) 205.60p -1.91%Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 381.20p -1.75%Soco International (SIA) 1,358.00p -1.74%Game Group (GMG) 148.50p -1.59%Stobart Group (STOB) 123.30p -1.36%Catlin Group (CGL) 329.00p -1.20%