London open: UK stocks advance strongly on "patient" Fed

UK stocks gained on Thursday morning following a stellar performance by Wall Street indices after the Federal Reserve said it would be “patient” to tighten monetary policy.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.6% at 6,376 early on, marking its third consecutive session in positive territory after the recent sell-off due to macro concerns, tumbling oil prices and financial turmoil in Russia.

US markets jumped on Wednesday with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average registering their best one-day performances of the year, up 1.7% and 2.1% respectively, after the Fed modified its forward guidance regarding interest rates.

The central bank didn't remove its “considerable time” language but added that it “can be patient” about tightening. Fed chair Janet Yellen said she doesn’t see the Fed raising rates for “at least the next couple of meetings”.

Analyst Jameel Ahmad from FXTM said that the Fed succeeded on Wednesday by not spooking investors further.

“The reiteration that the Federal Reserve will be intending to raise US interest rates in the coming year resulted in the USD rallying yesterday evening, while also providing investor sentiment with a vote of confidence following a hectic couple of days in the financial markets,” he said.

Thursday will be another busy day for financial markets worldwide with a string of economic data to digest, such as German confidence figures, UK retail sales, US jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index.

LSE and AstraZeneca rise early on

Stock exchange operator LSE was in demand after saying it has made ”good progress” over the course of 2014. Some £41bn of equity capital was raised on LSE’s markets during the 11 months to 30 November, compared with £26.7bn the year before, while new issues jumped by 38%.

Also higher was British pharmaceutical giant Astrazeneca after it received marketing authorisation from the European Commission for its Lynpaza capsules.

Royal Mail was putting in decent gains after a report found that the company was £180m underpriced in its stock-market flotation last year.

Part-nationalised banking group Lloyds was lower amid speculation that the government will soon resume the sell-down of its 25% remaining stake in the lender. The sale of a further 10% could raise up to £3bn, reports suggest.

Mining stocks were providing a lift with Randgold, Fresnillo and Anglo American among the better performers.

Water provider United Utilities was automatically a heavy faller on the FTSE 100 after going ex-dividend, meaning that investors no longer quality for the latest dividend payout. FTSE 250 groups Berkeley, Greene King, Halfords, Marston’s, Mitie and Polymetal also went ex-dividend.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,885.09 +0.74%
FTSE 100 6,376.40 +0.63%
FTSE 250 15,557.35 +0.73%

FTSE 100 - Risers
ARM Holdings (ARM) 962.50p +3.49%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,254.00p +3.33%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,655.00p +2.94%
Old Mutual (OML) 184.50p +2.67%
SABMiller (SAB) 3,271.00p +2.35%
Fresnillo (FRES) 724.00p +2.33%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 716.00p +2.29%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,870.00p +2.19%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,175.00p +2.06%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 403.20p +2.05%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
United Utilities Group (UU.) 905.00p -1.42%
TUI AG Reg Shs (Prior To 01/10/14) (DI) (TUI) 1,113.00p -1.24%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,229.00p -1.11%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,233.00p -0.72%
BT Group (BT.A) 399.00p -0.70%
Intu Properties (INTU) 324.50p -0.52%
TUI AG Reg Shs (Post- 16/12/14)(DI) (TUIJ) 1,085.00p -0.46%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,134.00p -0.44%
Diageo (DGE) 1,785.50p -0.31%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,055.00p -0.30%

FTSE 250 - Risers
EnQuest (ENQ) 37.23p +4.49%
Afren (AFR) 39.84p +4.32%
NMC Health (NMC) 464.50p +4.26%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 278.50p +3.03%
Serco Group (SRP) 164.30p +3.01%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 853.50p +2.77%
Just Eat (JE.) 300.00p +2.77%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 2,470.00p +2.70%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 52.10p +2.66%
Bellway (BWY) 1,897.00p +2.54%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,283.00p -3.46%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,418.00p -3.32%
Alent (ALNT) 330.00p -2.94%
IP Group (IPO) 207.00p -2.31%
Catlin Group Ltd. (CGL) 631.00p -2.17%
Marston's (MARS) 136.80p -1.87%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 410.00p -1.54%
Foxtons Group (FOXT) 161.50p -1.28%
Northgate (NTG) 556.50p -1.15%
Polymetal International (POLY) 597.50p -1.08%