London market brighter as blue-chip shares race ahead

THE London market took another step on the road to recovery yesterday as blue-chip shares raced ahead.

Heavyweight tech and financial stocks led the push, while a buoyant start on Wall Street fuelled the upbeat mood.

By London’s close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was more than 200 points ahead and the tech-laden Nasdaq was also gaining.

It meant the FTSE 100 Index was able to close near session highs, up 113.0 points at 4170.7.

The top flight has now added 393 points in the space of a week, fuelling hopes that a bull market may be in sight.

Vodafone raced ahead 3.75p at 98.5p, rival mmO2 added 4.25p at 51.25p and former parent BT gained 6p at 182.5p.

Among financial stocks, insurer Prudential surged 31p to 467p, while Royal & Sun Alliance put on 6.5p at 111.75p and Friends Provident jumped 7.5p to 124.75p.

Among the banks, Barclays was up 22.75p at 475.75p, Royal Bank of Scotland was up 74p at 1549p and Standard Chartered was 37p higher at 757p.

However, FTSE 250 firm MyTravel saw its shares tumble 47p to 28.5p, and fitness chain Holmes Place slumped 69p to 102p.

Back in the FTSE 100, the biggest risers were Sage, ahead 15p at 130p, Schroders NV, ahead 57p at 540p, and mmO2, ahead 4.25p at 51.25p.

The heaviest fallers were BAE Systems, off 10p at 197p, Reckitt Benckiser, off 50p at 1157p, and Gallaher, off 18p at 687p.