* FTSE 100 up 0.1 percent in early trading
* Dovish U.S. Fed comments drive mining sector rebound
* Corporate earnings mixed; WPP up, Whitbread lower
By Simon Jessop
LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares rose on
Thursday, buoyed by a restated U.S. committment to easy monetary
policy and blue-chip earnings, although volumes were expected to
remain low heading into a four-day holiday weekend.
Miners reversed several days of falls and were among the
early gainers, boosted by metals price rises on the back of a
weaker dollar after dovish comments overnight from U.S. Federal
Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. []
Antofagasta <ANTO.L> and Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, up over 1.3
percent, were among the early gainers on the last trading day of
the month in a 0.1 percent higher FTSE 100 <>, after the
index closed flat on Wednesday.
"With the prospect of ultra-easy monetary policy continuing
for the foreseeable future in the world's largest economy,
traders are feeling more confident about holding the bullish
view and risk appetite is expected to be high," said Jonathan
Sudaria, night dealer at London Capital Group.
Trade was extremley low, however, as Britain geared up for a
second four-day holiday weekend in a row, starting this time
with the Royal wedding on Friday. Volumes after the first hour
of trade were at just 7 percent of the 30-day daily average.
Corporate earnings from heavyweights such as Royal Dutch
Shell <RDSa.L> helped give direction, with the oil major rising
1 percent on the back of forecast-beating results, thanks to oil
prices and refining margin gains. []
Global advertising group WPP <WPP.L> was also among the
gainers, up 2 percent after it raised its outlook for the year,
while insurer Standard Life <SL.L> led the market thanks to
forecast-beating sales. [] []
Positivity surrounding the Fed's comments had pushed U.S.
indexes to fresh multi-year highs overnight, while Japanese
stocks closed at a two-week high. [] []
Corporate strength in both regions supported equity bulls,
while market direction later in Thursday's session was seen
being guided by the latest U.S. GDP and jobless figures.
CONSUMER MORALE
Not all corporate updates were positive, while the overnight
release of fresh consumer morale data underlined the fragile
outlook facing British-focused firms.
The GfK NOP consumer confidence index fell to -31 in April
from -28 in March, its lowest since February 2009 and against
expectations for a steady reading. []
Against that backdrop, hotel operator Whitbread <WTB.L> fell
5.5 percent in heavy volume to lead the FTSE fallers, weighed by
downbeat comment on the outlook from its chief executive after
forecast-beating results. []
Heavyweight losers also included Unilever <ULVR.L>, down 2.5
percent after posting peer-lagging growth in a trading update,
and AstraZeneca <AZN.L>, down 2.2 percent on forecast-lagging
sales. []
From a technical perspective, the FTSE should test the
year's high around 6105.77 in the short term, said James A.
Hyerczyk, analyst at Autochartist.
"Whether traders continue to buy through this level is the
key question. Traders appear to be gaining confidence in the
move as they continue to buy strength rather than wait for
pull-backs.
"This could backfire as the market is coming close to being
overbought. Investors should be careful about chasing the market
at current levels. Watch for a possible closing price reversal
top to signal the start of a near-term correction," he said.
(Editing by Dan Lalor)
