FTSE marginally up at close

London’s leading shares index failed to gain significant ground today after a raft of blue-chip results overshadowed optimism in the US and merger talks in the mining sector.

The FTSE 100 Index closed 5.4 points ahead at 5796.1, just inches away from its six-month high of 5,800, after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the world’s largest economy had recently shown signs of improvement.