Late rally for FTSE

The FTSE 100 Index staged a mini-rally late on today in the wake of positive economic news from the United States.

After dipping in and out of the red for most of the day, the Footsie finished the session 6.3 points ahead at 4853.4, just shy of a new two-and-a-half-year high.

US durable goods orders rose in December, resulting in the biggest annual increase in 10 years for manufacturers of appliances, cars and other long-life items.

There was also good news on the employment front, with first-time jobless claims rising less than forecast last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 26 points shortly after London’s close.

Positive updates from drugs firm AstraZeneca and mobile phone maker Nokia helped underpin the market in the City.

Higher profits and a promise of further growth in years to come sent shares in AstraZeneca to the top of the Footsie risers, lifting more than 4%, or 78p, to 1980p.

The group, under pressure following a string of setbacks involving its leading products, posted a 14% rise in 2004 sales to $21.4bn (€16.4bn).

Nokia, the world’s largest mobile-phone maker, saw its stock surge 6% after forecasting that sales will rise for a third straight quarter after profit and revenue in the final three months of last year beat analyst estimates.

The continued strong performance of mining stocks gave some hope to the market, as BHP Billiton gained 2p to 655p after posting sharply higher output figures amid the strongest demand for industrial metals in years.

Rivals Xstrata and Rio Tinto were close behind, up 7.5p to 923.5p and 3p to 1651p respectively.

Banking group Lloyds TSB stayed in the Footsie risers, up 5.75p to 490p, as investors looked for positive figures from the company in forthcoming annual results.

Oil stocks recovered somewhat from earlier losses, with BP up 0.5p at 533p, but Shell off 1.75p at 463.5p.

Vodafone fell 0.5p to 138.75p, following yesterday’s strong subscriber numbers, but rival mmO2 improved after saying it had added 1.18 million new customers during the final three months of 2004.

Its shares regained some earlier lost ground to stand 0.75p ahead at 125.75p.

Investors in the London Stock Exchange gave a favourable reaction to the takeover case presented by Germany’s Deutsche Boerse today, pushing its shares up 4.5p to 579p.

The share price is higher than the 530p contained in documents outlining a potential offer because investors have noted the bid interest shown by rival Euronext.

Elsewhere, shares in Pace Micro Technology added 5% or 2p to 39p despite the Financial Services Authority fining it £450,000 (€651,600) following breaches of market rules in the run up to a 67% fall in its share price.

The day’s biggest winners were AstraZeneca, up 78p to 1980p, Standard Chartered 20p ahead at 955.5p, Rentokil Initial advancing 3p to 150.5p and National Grid Transco adding 8.75p to 512.5p.

Biggest losers included United Utilities, off 13.5p to 628.5p, Cairn Energy weakening 21p to 1145p, Schroders NV down 8p at 679p and Shire Pharmaceuticals sliding 7p to 616p.