London close: Upbeat company and economic news buoys stocks

London shares closed comfortably in positive territory on Tuesday on upbeat economic news and strong corporate results.

The FTSE 100 Index closed 37.16 points ahead at 6709.13 as UK house prices reached a new high in September, according to data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS also said UK consumer prices edged higher in October due to a smaller drop in transport costs than a year ago.

Stocks also got a boost from news that German economic sentiment rose more than forecast in November, in a positive sign for the euro-area amid a weak economy and low inflation.

Chris Beauchamp at spread-betting firm IG said: "The FTSE 100 continues to build on its gains, with increasing Eurozone optimism helping to compensate for a degree of profit-taking in the mining sector following advances yesterday."

Mining stocks were indeed on the slide, led by Rio Tinto with a 54p decline to 3004p. Antofagasta was the sector's next biggest faller with a 7p drop to 709.5p while Anglo American backtracked 9.5p to 1363p and BHP Billiton was 8.5p off at 1660p.

Shares in Prudential hit their highest level since at least 1988 before closing 16p up at 1491p as a 20% gain in UK sales helped the insurer to meet City targets.

Easyjet flew 19p lower to 1525p as analysts voiced disappointment that the budget airline failed to upgrade its profit guidance, despite hiking dividends by 35.5% to 45.4p per share.

Positive comments and a 'buy' rating from broker Liberum Capital on African explorer Tullow Oil boosted its shares by 16.3p to 475p, although Standard & Poor's downgraded its credit rating on the group to 'BB-', citing lower oil prices.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,869.92 +0.39%
FTSE 100 6,709.13 +0.56%
FTSE 250 15,699.43 +0.32%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Tullow Oil (TLW) 475.00p +3.55%
British Sky Broadcasting Group (SKY) 890.00p +3.01%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,428.00p +2.52%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 651.00p +2.44%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,586.00p +2.32%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,448.00p +2.07%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,685.00p +1.93%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 425.00p +1.92%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 903.00p +1.86%
Next (NXT) 6,730.00p +1.74%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,004.00p -1.77%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,230.00p -1.69%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,048.00p -1.60%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 924.20p -1.29%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,525.00p -1.23%
Meggitt (MGGT) 473.20p -1.05%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 881.00p -1.01%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 709.50p -0.98%
TUI Travel (TT.) 418.20p -0.71%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,363.00p -0.69%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 100.20p +6.60%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 443.60p +6.25%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 164.30p +5.46%
Lonmin (LMI) 190.00p +5.15%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 52.40p +4.80%
Evraz (EVR) 142.70p +3.56%
Just Eat (JE.) 324.80p +3.54%
Drax Group (DRX) 600.00p +3.45%
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 231.90p +3.16%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 187.30p +3.08%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Informa (INF) 469.60p -6.92%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 343.90p -3.26%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 261.00p -2.94%
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 123.10p -2.92%
EnQuest (ENQ) 64.15p -2.73%
Afren (AFR) 71.10p -2.54%
Genus (GNS) 1,200.00p -2.44%
Just Retirement Group (JRG) 129.90p -2.26%
Greencore Group (GNC) 254.00p -2.23%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 638.50p -1.77%

FTSE TechMARK - Risers
Kofax Limited (DI) (KFX) 416.00p +5.32%
Optos (OPTS) 215.00p +4.88%
CML Microsystems (CML) 270.00p +3.85%
Sepura (SEPU) 137.00p +2.43%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,427.00p +1.93%
NCC Group (NCC) 202.00p +1.25%
SDL (SDL) 392.75p +0.90%
Ricardo (RCDO) 630.00p +0.64%
Anite (AIE) 85.50p +0.59%
Skyepharma (SKP) 336.25p +0.37%

FTSE TechMARK - Fallers
Triad Group (TRD) 15.75p -12.50%
BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 16.25p -4.41%
Torotrak (TRK) 15.12p -3.20%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 4.20p -2.33%
Dialight (DIA) 816.50p -1.03%
Consort Medical (CSRT) 747.50p -0.99%
Vectura Group (VEC) 121.25p -0.61%
E2V Technologies (E2V) 171.50p -0.58%
RM (RM.) 147.75p -0.17%