FTSE sees further gains

The London market maintained its progress today after a positive conclusion to Friday’s session in New York.

The FTSE 100 Index sustained most of its early gains to stand 14.1 points ahead at 5246.3.

A gain of nearly 150 points by the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday pushed London shares higher, while a fall in oil prices also lifted the mood. The Dow was expected to maintain that progress today with an opening rise of 23 points.

Only a handful of stocks were in negative territory in London, proving the market’s resilience following Thursday’s bomb attacks in the capital.

News that a hurricane in the United States had caused no damage to oil rigs or refineries helped the cost of a barrel of US light crude oil to fall to below 59 US dollars in New York.

This hit oil majors BP and Shell, leaving them 3.5p and 6.5p lower at 638p and 557.5p, but boosted the wider market.

Mobile phone giant Vodafone was one of the highest top flight climbers, up 2p to 141.25p, after broker Dresdner reiterated its “buy” recommendation.

Airports operator BAA added 1.5p to 611.5p as figures showed it handled 4.3% more passengers in June against the same month a year ago.

Elsewhere, beleaguered Channel Tunnel group Eurotunnel was unchanged at 18p despite unveiling higher revenue and traffic figures.

Shares in housebuilder Taylor Woodrow gained 1.75p to 342.5p as it announced that half year profits would be slightly ahead of expectations, although it warned that UK market conditions remained challenging.

Bookmaker William Hill added 1.5p to 560p after it said it had sold a batch of sites to the Tote as it looked to ease competition concerns from a recent deal to buy more than 600 sites from Stanley Leisure.

However, shares in Associated British Foods slipped 3p to 837.5p after clothing retail subsidiary Primark said it was taking on 120 Littlewoods stores.