By Michael Taylor
LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100
share index was almost 2 percent higher by mid-session on
Thursday as miners rose and Reed Elsevier <REL.L> led a host of
companies which issued results.
At 1231 GMT the FTSE 100 <> index was up 1.9 points at
6,002.9 to extend earlier gains and punch through the
psychological 6,000 barrier.
Earlier in the day, stocks moved higher after data showed
that UK retail sales shot up in January at four times the rate
predicted by analysts. []
Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed topped the FTSE 100 leaderboard,
adding 9.8 percent after it said it was acquiring U.S.
risk-management business ChoicePoint <CPS.N> for $4.1 billion
including debt and also announced a renewed cost-savings drive
as well as the planned sale of an advertising-dependent
information business. []
In negative waters, energy firm Centrica <CNA.L> fell 2.1
percent despite reporting a 40 percent increase in year profit
as traders said the numbers were in line with expectations.
The shares briefly rose in early trade but reversed gains
after Chief Executive Sam Laidlaw said share buybacks were not a
priority. He added that its British Gas business seemed to be
holding onto its customers despite a 15 percent hike in gas and
electricity charges last month. []
Mining stocks were the standout positive sector, however,
accounting for 30 index points.
Traders said M&A activity and record metal prices driven by
buoyant economic sentiment was assisting the shares, with
Xstrata <XTA.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L> and
Lonmin <LMI.L> all around 5 percent higher.
"We've had a lot of good news today on the reporting front
(and) good retail sales," Mark Priest, a trader at TradIndex
said. "We've had nothing but doom and gloom -- no one spending
money, everyone worried about the credit crunch ... Recession
... and this helps pave the way to stopping that."
"We've been given the worst case scenario and we seem to
have moved slightly away from that. Yesterday there was a lot
volatility in the Dow ... but at least they remained positive on
the day."
Banks also rose on the improving economic outlook with Royal
Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> up 4.3 percent, HBOS <HBOS.L> 3.2
percent higher and Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> climbing 2.9 percent. The
latter is also due to release its preliminary final earnings on
Friday.
But Alliance & Leicester <ALLL.L> was hit by a series of
broker downgrades after it suffered a double blow from the
impact of financial market turmoil on Wednesday, warning of
sharply higher funding costs and revealing a big writedown on
the value of risky assets. The stock dipped 3.1 percent to
extend on its 8.4 percent fall in the previous session.
SABMILLER SAYS NO
Among other decliners, Scottish & Newcastle <SCTN.L> slipped
2.6 percent to reverse gains achieved in the previous session,
after its global rival SABMiller <SAB.L> said late on Wednesday
that it had decided against a bid for the British brewer.
Shares in SABMiller climbed 3 percent.
But Britain's third-biggest drugmaker Shire <SHP.L> added
2.9 percent after it beat forecasts with a 38 percent rise in
underlying 2007 earnings and was confident about prospects for
its biggest new drug hope, Vyvanse for attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder.
Kingfisher <KGF.L>, Europe's biggest home-improvements
retailer, was 2.3 percent up after it said lower fourth-quarter
sales at its UK market leader B&Q had been partly offset by a
strong performance in France and Poland.
"It's a good day to come out with good results," said Howard
Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners. "Good results are
always what the market needs. The trouble is it doesn't always
get them."
(Additional reporting by Rebekah Curtis; Editing by Greg
Mahlich)
