US ‘patriotism’ hopes underpin Footsie recovery

THE City was in a subdued mood yesterday as dealers marked the September 11 anniversary

However, by the close, slight gains by several heavyweight stocks meant the FTSE 100 Index had nudged up 35.2 points to 4210.7. The Footsie eased 46 points in the first hour of trading but hopes of “patriotic” buying on Wall Street fuelled the turnaround.

Telecoms were among those on the up with mobile phone group Vodafone rising 2p to 98p, mmO2 rising 1p to 47p and BT up 6p to 206p.

Drugs giants GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca were also ahead, 34p and 12p to £12.80 and £20.67 respectively.

And software group Sage climbed towards the top of the leaderboard, surging 7% or 8p to 130p.

But the three blue-chips leaving the top flight later this month all fell with British Airways down 1p at 134p, International Power off 2p at 109p and music giant EMI 4p lower at 173p.

Investors in cider maker HP Bulmer also suffered a hangover as the group, down 23p at 205p, revealed chief executive Mike Hughes had resigned.

In the FTSE 100, the highest risers were Hays, up 8p at 133p, Sage, up 8p at 130p, Xstrata, ahead 32p at 637p and Invensys, up 4p at 80p. The heaviest fallers were BAE Systems, off 12p at 271p, Royal & Sun Alliance, down 5p at 121p, Legal & General, off 4p at 110p, and Kingfisher, off 7p at 209p.