LONDON (ShareCast) - London's leading shares raced ahead by the close of trading, led by solid results from Barclays and good data from Wall Street.

The Bank of England announced today that interest rates would be maintained at 3.5%, following its surprise quarter point cut last month.

Barclays closed as the day's best FTSE 100 performer after first-half profit rose 12% to £1.96bn, beating analysts' expectations, on increased profit from UK consumer banking and reduced bad debts.

Other financials also moved higher, led by Legal & General and Bradford & Bingley, ahead of its interim results tomorrow.

Engineer GKN also raced ahead after lifting profits by 41% to £113m in the six months to June, despite reiterating that the second half would be tougher.

Reed Elsevier moved higher after it raised its pre-tax profit for the six months to June by 2.5%, despite a decline in turnover due to the weakness of the US dollar.

Diageo was up after UBS repeated its buy rating on the shares with a 760p target price.

No frills airline Easyjet remained unchanged after confirming that its load factor, the number of passengers carried as a proportion of available seats, was 85.6% in July, down from 87.9% the year before.

Cookson Group consolidated its recent rally today, amid ongoing speculative interest, with vague talk that a disposal could be just round the corner.

Stanley Leisure fell despite rumours of a management buy-out. Even an update on the government’s plans to deregulate the gaming industry faled to lift sentiment.

In other gambling news, the deregulation of the gambling industry took a step nearer to fruition today as the government filled in some details of its plans.

Elsewhere, bakery chain Greggs eased by the close of trading after warning that it had made a "relatively" slow start to the second half.

Brewer Eldridge Pope perked up after it received a tender offer from Michael Cannon to pick up a further 19% of the company. He currently has a 10% stake. The tender offer is at 165p.

Antiques dealer Mallett slipped today after posting a massive fall in profits and warning that market conditions would remain uncertain in the second half.

Finally, London Bridge Software shares tumbled today after the financial software company reported another loss in the first half.


FTSE 100 - Risers

Barclays (BARC) 477.00p +9.40%
GKN (GKN) 234.50p +6.59%
Smith and Nephew (SN.) 414.25p +3.76%
Reed Elsevier (REL) 482.00p +2.77%
Sainsbury (SBRY) 281.00p +2.74%
BAA (BAA) 473.00p +2.60%
National Grid Transco (NGT) 383.50p +2.33%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 492.00p +2.29%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 242.75p +2.00%
Scottish and Newcastle (SCTN) 392.75p +1.88%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Pearson (PSON) 560.25p -2.99%
Dixons (DXNS) 123.25p -2.95%
Schroders (SDR) 634.00p -2.72%
Sage Group (SGE) 171.00p -2.43%
ICI (ICI) 163.00p -2.10%
GUS (GUS) 706.50p -2.05%
Man Group (EMG) 1,177.00p -2.00%
3i (III) 604.25p -1.75%
Compass Group (CPG) 326.50p -1.73%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 709.00p -1.73%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Dimension Data (DDT) 26.25p +6.06%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 310.00p +5.98%
Cookson (CKSN) 30.75p +4.24%
ISIS Asset Management (ISIS) 229.00p +4.09%
Taylor Woodrow (TWOD) 219.00p +4.04%
Wimpey (WMPY) 348.00p +3.80%
Lastminute.com (LMC) 254.00p +3.46%
FirstGroup (FGP) 284.00p +3.09%
Securicor (SCR) 77.75p +2.98%
Acambis (ACM) 332.50p +2.47%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Greggs (GRG) 3,012.50p -5.86%
Skyepharma (SKP) 62.75p -4.92%
De La Rue (DLAR) 262.00p -4.73%
Collins Stewart Tullett (CSTL) 444.00p -4.21%
LogicaCMG (LOG) 168.50p -3.99%
Brambles Industries (BI.) 173.50p -3.48%
Eurotunnel (ETL) 48.25p -3.02%
Canary Wharf (CWG) 235.50p -2.99%
Countrywide Assured (CWA) 114.00p -2.98%
WH Smith (SMWH) 375.75p -2.91%

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