Mining stocks lift FTSE

A recovery in mining stocks helped lift share prices in London into the black today after a mixed session for traders.

After initially drifting below its opening mark, the FTSE 100 Index staged a recovery in later trading to close 32.1 points higher at 5658.2.

The influence of international markets appeared to be in play with a fall in early trading – taking the Footsie 41 points lower – mirroring overnight losses on foreign exchanges.

But later a positive opening on Wall Street was reflected in the turnaround in London which had recovered more than 70 points from its morning low by the close of trading.

The mining sector, which has borne the brunt of recent stock market plunges, led the way with Anglo American pushing to the top of the risers’ board – up almost 5% or 92p to close at 2087p.

It was tracked by Rio Tinto which gained 79p, or almost 3%, to close at 2767p after a positive broker report and BHP Billiton gained 33p to reach 988p after settling 2006 prices with Chinese steel customers. Footsie newcomers Vedanta Resources recovered from an early fall to close up 6p at 1277p.

Nuclear power firm British Energy staged a recovery after initially falling into negative territory as its full-year results failed to inspire investors. Shares slipped 6p after it posted operating profits of £635m (€929.48m) and pre-tax profits of £599m (876.84m) for the year to March 31 and said that output was running slightly behind schedule.

But by the close of trading its shares were 6p higher at 694.5p.

Among the risers cruise giant Carnival saw its stock lift 1% or 16p to 2210p after Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein reiterated it was a buy with a 2800p target. This followed a rise of 4% in shares yesterday after it announced a new US$1bn (€795,227,000) share buyback plan and said it was seeing a rebound in Caribbean bookings after slashing prices.

Elsewhere, shares in leisure group Whitbread rose 20p to 1117p after it announced plans to expand its Costa Coffee chain into China.

The company also reported a 6.9% increase in total sales for the 13 weeks to June 1 with a like-for-like rise of 1.6%.

Shares in media group Emap lost 8p to close at 858.5p after it said it has sold its struggling French division to the Italian publisher of glossy magazine Grazia for £380m (€556.267m). Following the sale to Arnoldo Mondadori Editore some £285m (€417.19m) – representing 75% of the proceeds – will be returned to shareholders, Emap said.

The biggest FTSE 100 risers were Anglo American up 92p or 5% at 2087p, Centrica which gained 4% or 10.75p to 282p, BHP Billiton rising 33p to 988p and Rio Tinto which was 79p higher at 2767p.

The biggest fallers were ITV off 2.75p or 3% at 102.5p, Amvescap down 10p at 476p, Boots shares were 15.5p lower at 744.5p and Hammerson eased 15p to close at 1120p.