Late flourish sees FTSE close in black

Morale among investors in London continued to improve today as the FTSE 100 Index registered its fifth session of gains in a row.

The Footsie traded within a narrow band all day and was in negative territory with an hour to go, but a late flourish saw it close 4.1 points higher at 4411.6.

Little impetus was provided by Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained close to its opening mark of 10098.6

Packaging firm Rexam set the tone for trading in London with a 14% rise in half-year profits to £139 million.

Rexam – the world’s biggest drinks can maker – was fifth on the risers board with a gain of 6p to 430.5p after the blue-chip company said it was on course for a successful 2004.

Investors were also on the hunt for insurance stocks after a positive note on the sector from a broker. Prudential rose 2p to 432p, Friends Provident lifted 0.25p to 133p and Legal & General added 0.75p to 96.75p.

There was also a bright showing by drugs companies after heavyweight stock GlaxoSmithKline added 13p to 1104p and rival AstraZeneca cheered 8p to 2478p. Smaller rival Shire Pharmaceuticals was the day’s top riser, up 17p to 471.75p.

But these gains were countered by a weakening in the strength of the oil sector, with BP down 1.5p at 483p and Shell off 0.25p at 396.5p.

This followed a further easing in oil prices, which slipped below 45 US dollars a barrel in New York today.

Companies set to update investors on their financial performance tomorrow were also struggling for momentum. Engineering group Tomkins was off 3.5p at 254.5p and Ladbrokes owner Hilton Group was a penny cheaper at 259.25p.

Services group Rentokil Initial, which is due to inform the market of the outcome of its strategic review at the same time as posting half-year figures, retreated 1.5p to 153p.

A number of stocks going ex-dividend – meaning shareholders lose their right to the annual or half-yearly payments – also put pressure on the top flight. Those affected included Scottish & Southern Energy, which fell 24p to 716p, and retail group Dixons, which slipped 3p to 159p.

Outside the top flight, newspaper publisher Johnston Press rose 5.5p to 518.5p after reporting stronger than expected advertising revenues for the first half.

And film studio company Pinewood Shepperton saw its shares lift 8p to 206.5p as it celebrated a 15.8% rise in half-year profits to a record £6.7m (€10m).

The day’s biggest risers were Shire Pharmaceuticals, up 17p to 471.75p, British Land ahead 12.5p to 730.5p, William Hill lifting 9.5p to 555p and Smith & Nephew adding 7.5p to 487.5p.

The biggest fallers were Scottish & Southern Energy off 24p to 716p, Yell Group down 8.75p to 336.5p, Bradford & Bingley retreating 5.75p to 284.25p and Dixons weakening 3p to 159p.