FTSE: 5,368.41 (+30.87) Mid-250: 10,428.17 (+ 104.09) Small Cap: 2,932.85 (+2.45)LONDON PUSHED higher for the fourth session in a row yesterday after efforts by central banks to boost liquidity helped it gain 3 per cent this week.
The move to pump unlimited amounts of dollars into the banking sector to ease funding pressures boosted confidence and helped the FTSE 100 Index close up 30.9 points at 5,368.4.
London’s leading shares index had been up by more than 1 per cent earlier in the day but the shine was taken off its performance when euro zone finance ministers said they would delay a decision about paying more bailout loans to Greece until next month.
This sparked fresh fears the debt-stricken nation could default and eroded the gains of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the US at the time of the London market’s close. The Dax in Germany was up 1 per cent but the CAC 40 in France fell 0.5 per cent.
The pound was up at €1.15 against the euro after the single currency slipped following the boost provided by yesterday’s dollar liquidity announcement.
Sterling was also up against the dollar at $1.58.
Banks were among the best performers as Barclays added 3 per cent or 5.4p to 163.4p while Royal Bank of Scotland lifted 0.6p to 24.3p and HSBC was ahead 3.7p at 524.8p. But Lloyds Banking Group was down 0.1p to 35.8p after it surrendered earlier gains.
Elsewhere, the decent week for retail stocks continued after Marks Spencer gained 4.2p to 335p and BQ owner Kingfisher rose 2.4p to 253.5p.
The mood in the sector has been helped by resilient results from the likes of Next and Kingfisher, while John Lewis pitched in today with trading figures showing a 5.8 per cent rise in sales for the week to last Saturday. In the FTSE 250 Index, Argos owner Home Retail Group was up 7.9p at 118.1p.
Microchip designer Arm Holdings fell following disappointing results from Blackberry mobile phonemaker Research In Motion.
A downgrade from Goldman Sachs also hurt the shares, though the US broker still rates Arm as “one of the most compelling structural growth stories in European technology.” Arm shares dropped 15p to 595p.
On a quiet day for company news, AstraZeneca’s new heart drug Brilinta got the go-ahead for NHS use in England and Wales. Shares in the pharmaceutical giant rose 43p to 2849p. – (PA)
