FTSE moving towards 4200 mark

The FTSE 100 Index surged towards the 4200 mark today as investors on both sides of the Atlantic showed a renewed sense of optimism.

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1% last night, the Footsie had every reason to build on its gains of yesterday – rising 36.5 points to 4186.6 in the first hour of trading.

Financial stocks were again leading the charge, with Royal Bank of Scotland continuing to strengthen after announcing plans yesterday to buy Churchill Insurance and also issuing a positive trading statement.

RBS shares rose 48p to 1770p while HBOS added 14p at 801.5p, Barclays lifted 13p to 464.5p and Lloyds TSB gained 8.75p to 458.25p.

Outside the Footsie, security products group Chubb was again on the up after ending days of speculation and announcing that it had agreed the terms of a £622m (€884.5m) takeover by US giant United Technologies.

Chubb described the widely-anticipated 75p-per-share offer as “fair and reasonable”. Shares rose 2.5p to 75.25p.

Infrastructure services company Jarvis, which announced an annual profits rise of 37% today, gained 10.5p to 346.5p.

It cheered investors by forecasting that early-stage profits from its London Underground project would be €7.1m higher this year than envisaged.