Further advances for FTSE

London’s FTSE 100 Index made further advances today thanks to a raft of well-received updates from the likes of Barclays and Schroders.

The Footsie closed 25.2 points higher at 5875.2 as market heavyweights gained ground.

The top tier reached the 5900 level at one stage, but pulled back after a mixed opening on Wall Street’s Dow Jones Industrial Average.

In currency news, the pound eased back after recent strength. Sterling fell to 1.60 US dollars and 1.16 euros.

Banking giant Barclays was prominent on the risers board, up 4% or 11.4p to 297p, after better-than-expected third quarter results as lower bad debts helped it offset a fall in profits at its investment banking division.

Comments from the bank also appeared to ease concerns that it will have to raise additional capital due to new regulatory requirements.

Investment firm Schroders soared to the top of the London market, up 87p at 1667p, after posting pre-tax profits of £282m (€326m) in the first nine months of its financial year, while gold giant Randgold Resources followed with a gain of 275p to 6265p after posting third quarter pre-tax profits of $31.7m (€22.8m).

Embattled blue chip stock Rolls-Royce failed to maintain its shares fightback today, slipping 0.5p to 606.5p in late session trading.

The group – under pressure after the failure of one of its engines on a Qantas superjumbo last week – had initially been boosted by news of an order in China worth $1.2bn (€865m).

Rolls-Royce gained 3% last night after it released a statement saying it was close to finding the cause of its engine failure that caused the Qantas flight to make an emergency landing.

Mobile phone group Vodafone also lost earlier gains, down 1p to 174p. The market had been cheered earlier by an upgrade of its full-year earnings guidance due to revenues growth across all its regions, but shares lost momentum.

Marks & Spencer shares dropped 2%, or 7.2p to 406p after investors were left underwhelmed by recently appointed chief executive Marc Bolland’s strategy of “evolution not revolution”.

This overshadowed the retail chain’s 17% rise in half-year profits to £348.6m (€403m) for the 26 weeks to October 2.

Primark owner Associated British Foods, which also published results today, recovered from earlier falls to stand 34p higher at 1107p.

Pre-tax profits in the year to September rose 26% on an underlying basis to £825m (€955m) – beating analyst expectations.

However, AB Foods reiterated that it expects tighter margins at its discount clothing chain Primark next year due to higher costs and increased VAT.

Yell led falls in the second tier after disappointing half-year results, which led to broker downgrades. Shares in the directories group plunged 21%, down 3.2p to 12.4p.

The biggest Footsie share risers were Schroders ahead 87p to 1667p, Randgold Resources up 275p to 6265p, Barclays up 11.4p to 297p and Associated British Foods up 34p to 1107p.

The biggest Footsie fallers were InterContinental Hotels down 62p to 1140p, G4S off 5.3p to 253.6p, Prudential down 12p to 630.5p and Amec off 20p to 1114p.