FTSE follows Dow up

Shares in London made further gains today after the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new high in New York overnight.

The FTSE 100 Index lifted 6.9 points to 6173 as the bullish mood on Wall Street drifted across the Atlantic to the City.

Oil and financial stocks were on the rise, although the market was weighed down by losses in the mining sector as the price of metals eased.

Shares in BP lifted 4.5p to 606p as its fall in third-quarter profits was no worse than analysts expected, while rival Royal Dutch Shell was up 10p to 1820p.

Banking stocks were on the front foot with HBOS up 4p to 1084p and Barclays up 2.5p to 719.5p, although rival HSBC slipped a penny lower to 1007p.

Mining stocks dominated the blue-chip fallers' board as Kazakhmys lost 32p to 1197p, BHP Billiton fell 15p to 1005p and Lonmin gave up 39p to 2806p.

Also in retreat was Anglo American, which appointed its first female chief executive today in American Cynthia Carroll. She became only the third female boss of a FTSE 100 company, but it was not enough to stop Anglo shares falling 49p to 2366p.

In the second tier, floor coverings retailer Carpetright lifted 16p to 1174p after it said 60 new store openings had helped it increase first half sales by 6% in the UK and Ireland. In the rest of Europe total sales grew 9% due to a strong performance in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Department store Debenhams lifted 7.25p to 186.75p after it reported a 70% hike in profits. In its first full-year results since returning to the stock market in May, Debenhams said pre-tax profits rose to £112.8m (€168.3m) for the year to September 2.