London close: FTSE ends higher after gush of data

The FTSE 100 ended 2.61% higher on Wednesday as traders waded through UK gross domestic product data and a surge of US economic reports.

The final estimate of third quarter UK gross domestic product was revised down 0.1 percentage point to an increase of 0.4% quarter-on-quarter. The Office for National Statistics also revised second quarter growth down by 0.2 percentage points to 0.5%.

To the surprise of analysts, year-on-year third quarter GDP growth was revised to 2.1% from a previous estimate of 2.3%.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said the downward revisions to GPD will likely increase expectations that the Bank of England will hold off on raising interest rates until well into 2016.

"We suspect that stronger UK economic growth, a renewed pick up in earnings growth and consumer price inflation gradually trending up will prompt the MPC to act around May," he said.

"However, the current relapse in earnings growth does increase the possibility that the Bank of England could hold off from raising interest rates until the latter months of 2016."

In the US, durable goods orders were unchanged in November, beating expectations for a 0.6% drop, the Commerce Department revealed, boosted by aircraft components.

Separately, personal income and spending figures were also released by the Commerce Department. Personal income rose 0.3% in November, surpassing forecasts for a 0.2% increase, while personal spending climbed 0.3% last month, in line with estimates.

A report on US new home sales also came in better than expected. Sales increased 4.3% in November from a month ago, compared to analysts’ projections of 2%.

Meanwhile, the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence index was revised to 92.6 in December from a previous estimate of 91.8, surprising analysts who had pencilled in a reading of 92.

Oil and gas stocks were enjoying gains as prices jumped with Brent crude up 2.3% to $36.98 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate up 3.4% to $37.41 per barrel at 1620 GMT. BG Group, Royal Dutch Shell, Tullow Oil, Nostrum Oil & Gas, Weir Group and Cairn Energy were among the top risers on the FTSE 350.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Wednesday said it expects oil prices to reach $70 per barrel by 2020, according to its monthly World Oil Outlook report. OPEC also said it expected to reduce its own production to 30.6m barrels per day in 2019, compared to its three-year high of 31.7m bpd in November, due to rival production.

Mining stocks were also sitting higher, including Anglo American, Glencore and Rio Tinto, as copper prices advanced.

Ted Baker declined after Jefferies cut its rating on the stock to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’, saying the luxury retailer is likely to lose momentum due to mild weather, heavy discounting in the US and a slowdown in Asia.

Game Digital plunged after warning adjusted operating profit for the 26 weeks ending 23 January 2016 will be around £30m, down from the same period a year ago following disappointing sales since the start of school Christmas holidays.

Fastjet flew higher after announcing its Tanzanian operation had been given clearance by the Kenyan government to operate flights between Kenya and Tanzania.

Panmure Gordon tumbled after the institutional stockbroker and investment bank said it expects to swing to a full year loss.

Premier Oil edged up as it said it has completed the disposal of Premier Oil Norge AS to Det norske oljeselskap ASA for a net cash consideration of $120m and as a result, it now expects net debt to be just under $2.3bn (£1.55bn) at year end.

Legal & General Group climbed as it said it has completed the UK's largest medically-underwritten bulk annuity deal with an unnamed UK defined benefit pension scheme.

AstraZeneca gained as it said its Zurampic drug, used to treat gout, had received approval from the US Food and Drug Adminstration.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,241.68 2.61%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,396.52 1.34%
techMARK (TASX) 3,219.45 1.80%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 323.35p 9.06%
Glencore (GLEN) 93.09p 8.45%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 777.30p 6.77%
BG Group (BG.) 988.10p 6.28%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,014.50p 6.11%
Tesco (TSCO) 152.90p 5.56%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,564.50p 4.79%
GKN (GKN) 307.90p 4.48%
BP (BP.) 360.40p 4.48%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 590.50p 4.42%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Sports Direct International (SPD) 561.00p -0.36%
SABMiller (SAB) 4,045.00p 0.06%
Provident Financial (PFG) 3,283.00p 0.27%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,678.00p 0.33%
Next (NXT) 7,220.00p 0.35%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 617.00p 0.65%
Worldpay Group (WI) (WPG) 302.80p 0.70%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 408.50p 0.74%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,724.00p 0.82%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 597.50p 0.84%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 410.20p 15.52%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 311.80p 10.84%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 177.90p 10.43%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 154.30p 7.08%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,018.00p 6.65%
Evraz (EVR) 73.40p 6.53%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 814.50p 6.47%
Drax Group (DRX) 250.80p 4.67%
IMI (IMI) 881.00p 4.26%
Elementis (ELM) 230.10p 4.12%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

BGEO Group (BGEO) 1,886.00p -4.55%
Ted Baker (TED) 3,093.00p -2.83%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,650.00p -2.42%
Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 126.30p -0.94%
AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 1,125.00p -0.79%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 283.50p -0.70%
John Laing Infrastructure Fund Ltd (JLIF) 117.10p -0.68%
Pace (PIC) 415.40p -0.65%
Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 127.20p -0.62%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 566.00p -0.61%