Blue-chip stocks soar on Stock Exchange

Blue-chip stocks have soared as positive sentiment flowed through the London Stock Exchange.

A rare piece of good news from the US and the widely predicted cut in UK interest rates helped the FTSE-100 Index close up 86.1 points at 5621.8.

The market was in positive territory for almost all of the session after Dell Computers provided some much needed good news in the US overnight.

The company's trading update, issued after the close on Wall Street, showed it was on course to meet its revised earnings forecast for the first quarter.

Analysts in London said this reflected a growing belief that the US could be on the point of turning the corner.

The optimism was reflected in strong gains for a number of tech and telecom stocks on this side of the Atlantic.

The surge was given further impetus when both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite opened strongly this afternoon.

While the decision by the Bank of England's monetary policy committee to shave a further 0.25% off interest rates had been factored in by traders, the belief another cut may not be too far off also added impetus in London.

Those benefiting from the confidence on the market were Telewest Communications, which topped the Footsie leaders board, rising 11¾p to 110¾p.

Rail network operator Railtrack also moved ahead, recovering 6% to 475p to recoup some of the losses from a disastrous week which has seen the group's market value cut by more than £1 billion.