Rate cut does little to move market

Traders have got what they wanted from the Bank of England, although the quarter point interest rate cut did little to move the market.

The FTSE-100 Index is ahead by 72.1 points after strong gains at the start of the day.

The Footsie is now at at 5607.8 and is set for a further lift this afternoon with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite both set to open ahead in the US.

They are likely to be lifted by a trading update from Dell Computers, posted after Wall Street closed last night, which said the company would meet its revised earnings forecast for the first quarter.

Tech and telecom stocks are gaining most from the positive sentiment, although Railtrack has gained most, rising 10% to recover some of the losses that cut its market value cut by more than £1 billion. Railtrack is up 45p at 493p.

Clothes retailers are also gaining ground. Arcadia has lifted 32p at 225p after revealing it is in talks to sell five of its fashion chains and a strong increase in profits.

Ted Baker has risen 15%, or 32½p, at 256½p thanks to a strong start to the new financial year and profits that met market expectations.

Austin Reed gained 3½p to 104½p, after reporting a 17% jump in pre-tax profits for the full-year.

New economy stocks bouncing back include chip designer Arm Holdings, which has surged 13p to 277p, while Logica and CMG were ahead, rising 51p and 21p to 876p and 476p respectively.

Among the telecoms, Cable & Wireless is up 29p to 501p, BT is up 21p to 535p and Vodafone has risen 6¼p to 202¼p after announcing strong growth in customer numbers over the last year.