Ftse’s record high near 7,000

Dividend cheer for the 3m shareholders of Lloyds Banking Group and other strong corporate earnings spurred the Ftse to a new record yesterday.

The Ftse 100 index lifted to a new intra-day high of 6,967.2 points in the afternoon. This new record is just above a previous all-time high of 6,958.89 points hit on Tuesday. The Ftse later fell back to close 3.1 points down at 6,946.7.

Lloyds posted a four-fold rise in profits to £1.8bn (€2.4bn) and was joined by British Airways-owner International Airlines Group after it forecast profits this year will be much better than it originally expected.

Lloyds shares rose by half a penny to 79p and are now trading comfortably above the price the government paid in its 2008 bailout as the company said it will hand £535m to its shareholders in a first dividend in seven years.

Fellow part-nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotland fell sharply for the second session in a row.

The biggest risers in the Ftse 100 index were International Airlines Group up 20.5p at 580p, Associated British Foods up 76p at 3125p, Intertek up 60p at 2530p and Intercontinental Hotels Group up 55p at 2,650p.

Biggest fallers were Intu Properties down 19p at 353.5p and Royal Bank of Scotland down 19.4p at 367.2p.