London close: Hopes of Chinese and European economic stimulus lift stocks

A surprise cut in Chinese interest rates and hints about quantitative easing in Europe put London traders in a bullish mood on Friday.

The People’s Bank of China cheered markets by reducing its one-year benchmark lending rate by 40 basis points to 5.6% to lift an economy on course for its slowest annual rate of growth in more than two decades.

European Central Bank president Mario Draghi weighed in by hinting that money-printing was among options still being considered by the ECB to head off deflation.

British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is set to miss forecasts for reducing public sector borrowing in the UK, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed.

But traders shrugged off the downbeat numbers, lifting the FTSE 100 Index by 71.86 points to 6750.76 at the close.

The news from Beijing boosted miners, which led the top-flight index higher.

Anglo American gained 86.5p to 1380p, Rio Tinto added 177p at 3042p, Fresnillo twinkled 38.5p to 763.5p, BHP Billiton strengthened 79.5p to 1662p and Antofagasta advanced 33.5p to 730.5p.

Randgold Resources also gleamed 161p to 4496p as gold prices topped $1,200 an ounce.

US light crude oil prices climbed back above the $75 a barrel threshold on speculation that OPEC will cut oil production when it meets next week.

Oil stocks reacted positively, with Tullow Oil spurting 27.7p to 505p, services group Weir progressing 82p to 2112p, BG Group inflating 23p to 1069p, Royal Dutch Shell gushing 38p to 2391p and BP up 6.85p at 448.2p.

But investors in travel stocks balked at the prospect of higher fuel prices. TUI Travel was 3.7p off at 423.4p, cruise operator Carnival floated 21p lower to 2617p and Easyjet descended 12p to 1553p.

Royal Bank of Scotland fell 2.9p to 377.7p as news emerged just before the market closed that it had made an error in calculating its capital ratio for the latest round of stress tests in Europe.

techMARK 2,893.95 +0.83%
FTSE 100 6,750.76 +1.08%
FTSE 250 15,691.62 +0.56%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 1,380.00p +6.69%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,042.00p +6.18%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 505.00p +5.80%
Fresnillo (FRES) 763.50p +5.31%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,662.00p +5.02%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 730.50p +4.81%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,112.00p +4.04%
Glencore (GLEN) 336.25p +3.96%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,496.00p +3.71%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,012.00p +3.37%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,885.00p -1.33%
TUI Travel (TT.) 423.40p -0.87%
Carnival (CCL) 2,617.00p -0.80%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,553.00p -0.77%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 377.70p -0.76%
Centrica (CNA) 292.00p -0.65%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 419.90p -0.64%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,160.00p -0.58%
National Grid (NG.) 931.50p -0.48%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 635.00p -0.47%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Lonmin (LMI) 193.00p +7.94%
Evraz (EVR) 149.40p +7.79%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 810.00p +7.71%
EnQuest (ENQ) 70.30p +7.57%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,125.00p +6.13%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 52.50p +4.79%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 247.60p +4.65%
Premier Oil (PMO) 242.70p +4.39%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 384.50p +4.37%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 321.40p +3.44%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 170.00p -5.61%
Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 253.50p -5.41%
Serco Group (SRP) 170.00p -5.03%
Cranswick (CWK) 1,335.00p -4.09%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 282.50p -3.72%
Diploma (DPLM) 685.00p -2.91%
Greene King (GNK) 746.50p -2.23%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 353.40p -1.83%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 136.00p -1.66%
IP Group (IPO) 199.40p -1.58%
FTSE TechMARK - Risers
CML Microsystems (CML) 332.50p +5.56%
RM (RM.) 154.50p +4.39%
Gresham Computing (GHT) 83.50p +3.73%
Kofax Limited (DI) (KFX) 424.25p +2.14%
Vectura Group (VEC) 122.00p +2.09%
Sepura (SEPU) 144.00p +1.41%
Consort Medical (CSRT) 746.50p +0.81%
Promethean World (PRW) 24.88p +0.51%