British Economic Data Lifts FTSE 100

A surprise 1.2% rise in housing prices in the U.K. in May, according to figures released by the Nationwide, lifted Sterling to a fresh six-month high against the dollar and investor confidence on Friday morning.

Paul Hutchinson
shareprices.com - Saturday, May 30, 2009

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Buying shares in the resources sector, notably in mining and oil companies, was popular, as crude oil reached $66 a barrel, following the latest meeting of OPEC ("Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries") in Vienna on Thursday and metal prices continued to rise.

Lonmin, the third largest producer of platinum in the world, and gold miner Rangold Resources were amongst the best performing of FTSE 100 constituent companies, but heavyweights Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Xstrata were also up by between 3.9% and 6.2%. Oil Majors BG Group, Royal Dutch Shell, and BP rose by 3.6%, 1.5% and 0.6% respectively, and Cairn Energy was also going well but Tullow Oil bucked the trend, and the likes of British Airways and Thomas Cook, understandably, reacted badly to the rise in the price of crude. By midday, the FTSE 100 index was up 48.64 points or 1.1% at 4,436.18 points.

Of FTSE 250 constituent companies, pub retailer brewer Greene King was down 20.5p or 4.46% at 439.5p after shareholders took up just over 93% of the shares made available in its £207.5 million, leaving the balance of 5.5 million shares to be offered on the stock market. Share prices in electrical parts supplier Electrocomponents were similarly down 6.75p or 4.52% at 142.5p after it announced a 10% fall in pre-tax profits as expected.

 

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