US optimism raises FTSE

Further signs of imminent moves to bolster America's recovery sent the London market soaring today and offset falls among blue-chip banks.

Indices rose across Asia and Europe after last night's minutes of the most recent US Federal Reserve meeting showed that policymakers are considering more money-boosting efforts.

London's FTSE 100 Index leapt more than 1%, surging past the 5,700 mark - up 68.5 points to 5730.1.

Expectations for further asset-buying by the Fed also sent gold close to recent record highs, at just more than $1,360 (€973.4m) an ounce.

But banking shares were under pressure today after Standard Chartered surprised the market by launching a £3.3bn (€3.74bn) investor cash-call.

The London-listed group wants to ensure it is well prepared for incoming Basel III rules, which will force banks to more than double the spare cash they hold to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis.

The move raised questions over further fundraisings among other UK banks with the third quarter reporting season also kicking off.

The fallers board was led by Standard Chartered after a drop of 41p to 1867.5p - 2% - while the fundraising speculation meant Barclays dropped 4.7p to 290.1p, also a fall of 2%. Other banks clawed back early losses, including HSBC up 4.6p to 667.8p.

Miners recovered from a weak session yesterday to post gains of up to 4%.

Silver producer Fresnillo was one of the sector's strongest risers after a gain of 42p to 1283p as its third quarter trading update revealed silver production reached a record level.

Fashion house Burberry was lower despite forecasting that full-year profits will be in the top half of City expectations.

The company said it continued to trade well, but analysts noted that sales growth was slightly lower in the second quarter compared with the first. It was top of the fallers board after shares dropped 23p to 1016p following a recent strong run for the company.

Pub group Punch Taverns extended losses in the second tier, down another 5% or 4.25p to 75.8p in the wake of an 11% plunge yesterday after its full-year underlying profits of £131m (€148.5m) came in short of some City hopes.

Engineer Bodycote was enjoying a better session thanks to news its annual profits will come in towards the upper end of analyst forecasts.

Shares rose 10% or 27.9p to 303.9p.