Fresh hopes G7 meeting will act to calm markets drives Footsie forward

FTSE:5,696.11 (+97.88) Mid-250:11,236.39 (+203.28) Small Cap:3,127.87 (+17.19)

UK STOCKS rose yesterday, rebounding from a six-day sell-off, amid speculation that today’s Group of Seven nations meeting will act to calm markets roiled by Japan’s largest earthquake on record.

The FTSE 100 Index climbed 1.8 per cent to 5,696.11 at the close in London, rebounding from the longest stretch of losses in more than two years.

“Buyers have stepped up as recent falls have been seen to be overdone,” said Jonathan Sudaria, a trader at London Capital Group. The “emergency G7 meeting may lead to some form of global intervention to stabilize markets”.

G7 finance chiefs will hold talks on financial markets and Japan’s economy, the world’s third-largest, when they meet today after global equities plunged and the yen surged to a post-second World War high.

The benchmark FTSE 100 has tumbled 9.4 per cent from this year’s high as political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa sent oil prices surging and Japan battled to stop its Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant from leaking radiation following the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

Japan’s Nuclear Plant Stocks extended their gains amid speculation Japan will contain its nuclear crisis.

BHP the world’s largest mining company climbed 3.1 per cent to 2,281p.

Xstrata rose 3.7 per cent to 1,378p, while Antofagasta increased 4.3 per cent to 1,347p.

SIG surged 7.8 per cent to130.5p after Europe’s biggest supplier of insulation said trading for the first two months of this year was in line with its forecasts.

Travis Perkins the UK’s biggest building merchant rose 4.3 per cent to 974p while Wolseley a supplier of heating and plumbing products, gained 4 per cent to 2,077p.

Heritage Oil rallied 8.2 per cent to 313.5p after the Financial Times reported that the company has rejected an informal £1.2 billion ($1.9 billion) offer from an unidentified Abu Dhabi-based company.

Aegis jumped 6.3 per cent to 138.6p the first advance in four days.

Premier Farnell advanced 1.3 per cent to 280.2p after the UK supplier of electronic components posted a 77 per cent rise in full-year net income to £66.2 million.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals rose 4 per cent to 723p. – (Bloomberg)