Headline shares were trading nicely higher as midday approached, although off highs, after a morning session of rebounds following a positive finish on Wall Street last night and recovery in the banking and mining sectors. As lunch approached, the FTSE 100 was up 81.63 at 5022.31 points.
US & ASIA
In the US last night, the Dow lost 23 points at 10,044, the Nasdaq Composite fell 3 points at 2,211 and the S&P500 was flat at 1,074.
LONDON MARKETS
Banks and miners were at the fore as markets rebounded during the morning session today. National Grid (LON:NG.) was heading the losers at time of writing and was trading down over 12%. Those stocks to see gains included Lonmin (LON:LMI), up 6.21% at 1658p, Burberry, up 5.8% at 648p, Kazakhmys (LON:KAZ), up 5.69% at 1133p, Eurasia, up 5.19% at 952.5p and Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) up 5.13% at 861.5p. Those who saw losses included National Grid (LON:NG.) down 12.07% at 488.9p, International Power (LON:IPR), down 1.7% at 289p and United Utilities (LON:UU.), down 1.32% at 521.5p. The British Bankers Association (BBA) said today the annual growth in the banks net mortgage lending of 4.3% (slightly lower than last months 4.5%) still substantially exceeds annual growth of just 1% in March for the mortgage market overall.
Subdued spending has led to consumer credit contracting by 2.6% over the year. Although investment in ISAs has been lower than previous years, personal deposits have risen 6.0% over the past year. Lending to non-financial companies has contracted by 5.4% over the past year. Gross mortgage lending of £8.2bn in April was lower than both March and the average of the previous six months (£9.1bn).
Luxury fashion retailer Burberry Group (LON:BRBY) said today that sales were up 7% to £1.28bn in the year to end-March, with adjusted profit before tax up 23% to £215m and adjusted retail/wholesale profit up 25% to £138m. Shares traded up 5.8% at 648p. East London housing regeneration specialist Telford Homes (LON:TEF) said revenue increased to £159.3m in the year to end-March, up from £106.7m the previous year. Profit before tax and exceptional items increased to £8.1m (2009: £7.3m).
Betting group William Hill Plc (LON:WMH) is to stop accepting online gambling business from French residents following changes to France's regulatory regime.The group says William Hill Online is considering whether…
