London close: FTSE ends session with modest gains

The top tier closed slightly higher on Thursday, as a strong performance by Smith & Nephew was offset by losses amongst the mining sector.

The FTSE 100 ended the day 9.68 points higher than on the previous day at 6,463.55.

Investors were paying attention to what analysts called an "artificially high" gross domestic product (GDP) reading for the US, which rose at an annualised clip of 3.5% in the third quarter, exceeding consensus estimates for a rise of 3.0% rise.

"The market has made a rapid recovery as the US growth figure isn’t as impressive as initially thought," said IG market analyst David Madden.

"When the 3.5% US GDP figure flashed on the screens it was traders’ worst nightmare! Dealers feared a rate rise must be around the corner but after closer inspection the jump in growth was largely down to Washington’s spending on defence.

"After nearly six years of quantitative easing from the US, traders still have the attitude that bad news is good news; old habits die hard."

Meanwhile, figures published by the Labor Department showed that the number of Americans who applied for new unemployment benefits in October remained below the 300,000 level for the seventh consecutive week.

In the week ended 25 October, initial jobless claims rose by 3,000 to 287,000, "more or less" in-line with consensus expectations of 285,000, while claims for the previous week were revised to 284,000, as the four-week moving average remained at 281,000, its lowest level since 2000.

Smith & Nephew rises after first quarter results

Medical devices maker Smith & Nephew rose strongly after it posted a 3% increase in both revenue and profit for the third quarter, thanks to an improvement in its emerging and international markets units, recent product launches and investment in the sales force. On an underlying basis, turnover climbed from $1,027m to $1,148m, thanks to its Sports Medicine and Trauma & Extremities divisions, which benefited from recent product launches and investment in the US sales force.

Wealth manager St James's Place was another stand-out performer, rising strongly after seeing impressive inflows in its third quarter, helped by a big increase in demand for new ISA investments. Funds under management reached a record £49.1bn by 30 September, up 17% on the year before.

Mondi was also higher thanks to the news Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the group's credit rating to Baa2 from Baa3. Chief executive Andrew King said it was "further testament to the robustness of the group's business model and the ability of the business to generate strong cash-flows through the business cycle".

Meanwhile, shares in Standard Chartered fell for a fourth day amid reports US prosecutors have re-opened their investigations into whether the lender withheld information into the possible violation of the sanctions regime imposed on Iran.

Mining groups dropped in the face of falling metal prices, with gold at a three-week low and copper pulling back from a six-week high. Fresnillo, Randgold, Anglo American, Glencore and Antofagasta were among the worst performers.

Tullow Oil was knocked lower by Deutsche Bank, which cut its target price from 790p to 650p.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,749.84 +0.56%
FTSE 100 6,463.55 +0.15%
FTSE 250 15,298.32 +0.42%

FTSE 100 - Risers
St James's Place (STJ) 712.50p +3.56%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,054.00p +3.54%
Friends Life Group Limited (FLG) 313.80p +2.62%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,037.00p +2.37%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,164.00p +2.18%
Carnival (CCL) 2,467.00p +1.82%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,337.00p +1.79%
Capita (CPI) 1,101.00p +1.76%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,444.00p +1.69%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 815.50p +1.68%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 3,779.00p -6.02%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 943.60p -4.89%
Fresnillo (FRES) 716.50p -4.34%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,320.50p -2.37%
Glencore (GLEN) 317.10p -2.04%
BT Group (BT.A) 367.90p -2.02%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 484.10p -2.00%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 690.50p -1.92%
ITV (ITV) 200.50p -1.81%
BG Group (BG.) 1,026.50p -1.72%

FTSE 250 - Risers
National Express Group (NEX) 246.20p +4.68%
Rightmove (RMV) 2,123.00p +4.48%
Polymetal International (POLY) 510.00p +3.95%
Keller Group (KLR) 826.50p +3.51%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 450.00p +3.31%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 620.50p +3.24%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 197.50p +3.03%
Just Retirement Group (JRG) 132.80p +2.95%
UBM (UBM) 562.00p +2.93%
AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 1,022.00p +2.92%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Afren (AFR) 78.70p -15.60%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 101.30p -5.94%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 85.85p -4.24%
Premier Oil (PMO) 259.10p -3.89%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 148.70p -3.82%
Lonmin (LMI) 172.90p -3.62%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 2,502.00p -3.40%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 810.50p -3.34%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 54.85p -2.92%
Hays (HAS) 117.70p -2.24%