Footsie shows early gains

London’s leading shares made steady progress in early trading today after an overnight surge on Wall Street took US shares above a key level.

Strong trading in New York saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average surge 116 points breaching the psychologically important 9000 barrier to close at 9038.98.

And, with traders in London preparing for today’s interest rates announcement from the Bank of England, the FTSE 100 index was up 13 points at 4139.6 after an hour of trading.

High among the early risers was Cable & Wireless continuing its sharp turnaround after seeing a 13% fall in early trading yesterday turn into a 7% rise by the close of play.

News today of the disposal of its £235m (€329.5m) stake in the Hong Kong fixed-line phone firm PCCW lifted shares another 4% or 3.75p to 107.25p.

But high street chain Boots was under pressure, falling 8.5p to 614p after unveiling a 17% drop in pre-tax profits. The company also announced that it was cutting 500 jobs at its Nottingham head office.

Leading the risers in the FTSE 250 index was workplace services group PHS after posting a sharp rise in full-year profits. Shares climbed 11% or 7.5p to 76.5p.

Meanwhile supermarket group Somerfield climbed 5% or 4.75p to 104.25p after throwing out a 120p-per-share takeover bid from retail entrepreneurs John Lovering and Bob Mackenzie saying it undervalued the company.

The proposal would have seen rival Sainsbury’s snap up a number of Somerfield stores, knocking the larger operators shares.

Sainsbury’s topped the FTSE 100 fallers losing 3% or 9.25p at 257.25p.