Market overview: London regains impetus
Monday 13 Oct 2008

1645: The FTSE 100 rose by more than 7% today, re-establushing itself above the 4,000 level, as all but a handful of stocks made gains, some of them substantial. Among those failing to join in the rally were HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB, the three that are to benefit from a £37bn injection of cash from shareholders and the UK government. Commodity stocks had a banner day with Kazakhmys, Cairn, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Xstrata, BP and Antofagasta all posting double-digit percentage rises. Cadbury rose 10% ahead of its trading update tomorrow. The FTSE 100 is up 280 at 4,212.

1610 London is finishing with a flourish, boosted by the strong performance of Wall Street, which has opened higher after the announcement of a UK-style equity purchase programme by the government for the banks. Oils and miners do their bit to push the benchmakr index higher, with Kazakhmys, Rio Tinto and Cairn Energy all benefitting from higher commodity prices. FTSE 100 is up 237 at 4,169.

1510 London is stuck in a consolidation phase, with the FTSE 100 trading in a narrow range around the 4100 level. A return of confidence to the banking sector is feeding through to the energy sector, with the price of crude oil rising as fears of a global recession recede. Despite the rise in the oil price airline British Airways is higher, after getting a lift from Dresdner Kleinwort raising its recommendation from “hold” to “buy” on the grounds that the company’s problems are now reflected in the share price. FTSE 100 is up 165 at 4,097.