* FTSE 100 up 0.6 percent
* Commodity stocks higher, risk appetite increases
* Technology stocks gain from Intel results
By Simon Falush
LONDON, April 14 (Reuters) - Strong results from JPMorgan
<JPM.N> and U.S. chip giant Intel <INTC.O> lifted expectations
for a global recovery, helping strong commodity stocks to push
Britain's top share index higher in midday trade on Wednesday.
By 1132 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was up 34.87 points, or
0.6 percent at 5,796.53 just short of Monday's 22 month
intra-day peak. It fell 15.99 points or 0.3 percent on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase reported a jump in
first quarter earnings as revenue for its investment bank offset
losses on consumer loans. Earnings per share at $0.74 compared
with a forecast of $0.64.
Intel's sales and margin forecasts far outpaced market
expectations when they were released after the Wall Street close
on Tuesday reinforcing hopes for an acceleration in the
recovery. []
"The JPMorgan results are keeping sentiment going after the
Intel numbers, reassuring the market that the economic recovery
is still sound, and I would expect U.S. markets to rally to new
highs this afternoon," said David Jones, chief market strategist
at IG Index.
These numbers boosted recovery hopes and helped lift
commodity prices on increased demand hopes, which bolstered
heavyweight miners and energy companies.
Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L>, Lonmin <LMI.L>, Anglo
American <AAL.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> and BHP Billiton <BLT.L>
added 1.1 to 1.9 percent, while BP <BP.L> and Royal Dutch Shell
<RDSa.L> gained 0.7 and 1.1 percent respectively.
"There's a general trend that corporate results have been
supportive for some time, and while before there was a fear that
this might get outweighed by problems on the economic front,
there seems to be steady progress there too," said Tim Rees,
fund manager at Insight.
The JPMorgan results also lifted banks, with Barclays
<BARC.L>, Standard Chartered <STAN.L>, Royal Bank of Scotland
<RBS.L> and Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> up 1.4-2 percent.
TECHS BOUYANT
Chipmaker Arm Holdings <ARM.L> gained 0.2 percent as the
Intel results boosted the outlook for the tech sector, while
software firm Autonomy <AUTN.L> also benefited from the improved
sentiment, gaining 0.5 percent.
Telecoms carrier BT Group <BT.L> was the top blue chip
gainer, up 4.1 percent, seeing demand as Morgan Stanley released
a note saying that the firm looks substantially cheaper than its
U.S. peers such as AT&T <T.N>.
BAE Systems <BAES.L> gained 1.5 percent, supported by a
report in the Daily Telegraph that said the firm has won a
Ministry of Defence contract, worth $25 million, to supply
anti-missile technology for Chinook and Tornado aircraft in
Afghanistan.
Among a relatively limited list of fallers, Associated
British Foods <ABF.L> fell 1.5 percent after Deutsche Bank
downgraded the food to retail group to "sell" from "hold",
citing valuation concerns over Primark.
Ex-dividend factors knocked 1.91 points off the FTSE 100
index on Wednesday, with BG Group <BG.L>, Capita <CPI.L>, Legal
& General <LGEN.L> and Tullow Oil <TLW.L> all losing their
payout attractions.
With no major domestic economic data released on Wednesday,
the main macro focus was on a batch of U.S. data due in the
afternoon, notably March consumer prices and retail sales
numbers, both scheduled for 1230 GMT.
U.S. business inventories for February will be released at
1400 GMT, and the latest Federal Reserve Beige Book will be
published after the London close at 1800 GMT.
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver his
latest Congressional testimony on Wednesday.
(Editing by Louise Heavens)
