FTSE on the front foot

The London market was back on the front foot today as investors regained their nerve after yesterday’s sell-off on both sides of the Atlantic.

The FTSE 100 Index closed up 73.1 points at 6640.2, regaining some of the 92 points lost yesterday amid fears over sub-prime mortgages in the US and the country’s wider economy.

Rising copper prices and takeover speculation helped investors shrug off sluggish UK retail sales data, which was largely written off as being due to the wet weather.

Antofagasta led the session’s risers, on the back of firmer prices. The firm, which has three copper mines in Chile, gained more than 5%, or 37p to 725.5p, and cheered the sector.

BHP Billiton followed not far behind, up 55p to 1499p, while Xstrata also gained 124p to 3419p, and Vedanta Resources rose 73p to 1804p.

Another strong performance came from insurance firm Old Mutual, up 5%, or 7.7p, to 175.9p on reports that its NedBank business in South Africa was a takeover target for Standard Chartered.

The speculation did little for Standard Chartered, which has played down the rumours, with the shares off 13p at 1671p. Standard Chartered said the company’s growth in South Africa was likely to remain “organically led” and declined to comment on the reports.

Meanwhile, supermarket chain Morrisons was on the front foot as the company said it was on track to meet its expectations, despite reporting slower like-for-like sales growth in recent weeks.

Traders appeared content with the 3% figure, driving shares up by 4%, or 12.25p, to 328p.

Mobile phone giant Vodafone also reassured the market that it was on track to meet full-year profits forecasts. The stock soared almost 2% on the news although it lost some early impetus to stand 2.8p higher at 161.9p.

In the defence sector, approval from US regulators for BAE Systems’ proposed £2bn takeover of Armor Holdings helped the firm gain 5%, or 19.25p to 421.25p.

Pubs chain Mitchells & Butlers was the Footsie’s leading faller, off more than 3%, or 29p, at 863p on reports of increased costs for the firm following a rumoured property deal with entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz.

British Energy was also down as the business warned of more outages at its nuclear power stations to fine-tune its boilers. The stock was off 6.5p at 523p.

Other fallers included telecoms firm Cable & Wireless, which shed 0.7p to 188.8p after rival Digicel said it was launching a “multi-million pound” suit against C&W for allegedly delaying its entry into Caribbean markets. C&W has said it will “vigorously defend” the claim.

Elsewhere, investors took comfort in a sales update from Mothercare, as strong online business helped offset a weaker performance on the high street.

Shares were 9.5p higher at 404.5p, a gain of 2%.

The biggest Footsie risers were Antofagasta up 37p at 725.5p, BAE Systems ahead 19.25p at 421.25p, Old Mutual up 7.7p at 175.9p and Persimmon up 51p at 1175p.

The biggest Footsie fallers were Mitchells & Butlers down 29p at 863p, British Energy off 6.5p at 523p, Cadbury Schweppes down 6.5p at 638p, Standard Chartered down 13p at 1671p.