29th Aug 2013 16:07
LONDON (Alliance News) - London's main equities indices all closed higher Thursday as concerns over military intervention in Syria eased.
For the first time this week, the FTSE 350 closed up 0.81%, with the AIM All-Share up 0.51%.
Markets opened higher, following strong performances by US and Asian markets, as the allies delayed plans for an imminent strike on Syria in retaliation for the regime's alleged use of chemical weapons as they tried to shore up support for the move.
Oil and Gas producers were consistently the worst performing sector throughout the day, closing down 0.75%, closely followed by Mining, down 0.63%, as investor confidence shifted away from the investment safe-haven of gold and back towards consumer goods and services and telecommunications.
Vodafone closed the leader of the FTSE100 at 204.95 pence, up 8.3%, after it confirmed it had restarted talks with Verizon Communications to sell its 45% stake in the Verizon Wireless joint venture.
In a busy day of corporate earnings, FTSE Fledgling stock Ark Therapeutics PLC was a large gainer, closing up 0.175p, or 36.84%, as it was announced that it was holding takeover talks with a specific, unnamed, party. AIM stock Rare Earth Minerals continued to rise, trading at nearly 34 times the value they were last month, at 1.299p, following a string of good news about its Fleur-El Sauz lithium project in Mexico.
Serco was the biggest faller on the FTSE100, ending at 538.288p, down 11.25%, after it brought in the police to investigate fraudulent reporting of prisoner transfers.
The consumer price index inflation data out from Germany read flat month-on-month against a forecast increase of 0.1% and a previous reading of 0.5% in July. The German markets closed higher, even as German unemployment numbers showed an unexpected increase. Official figures show an increase of 7,000 in August, against a forecast fall of 5,000. The jobless rate remains unchanged at 6.8%.
A similar sentiment was shared amongst all US indices, with all major indices up at UK market close. Revised GDP data showed the US economy grew by 2.5% in the second quarter, better than expectations for a 2.2% revision and the advance reading of 1.7%. US data also showed a small upward revision to Jobless claims last week to 337,000, from 336,000.
It's another busy day of corporate earnings Friday as companies try to get reports out before the end of the reporting season. Data wise, there is Japanese unemployment rates and Industrial Production overnight, followed by UK Mortgage Approvals and EU Unemployment rates in the morning.
British MP's are continuing to debate the appropriate response to the apparent use of chemical weapons in Syria, with a vote expected tonight at around 2200 BST. However PM David Cameron has been forced to water down the vote to one on a response in principle only, in the face of opposition from the Labour party. Another debate will be needed to give the go ahead for direct military action.
By James Kemp; [email protected]
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