Banks help market end on high note

A LATE rally helped Britain’s top share index build on its four-year high as a well-subscribed Italian bond auction played down the danger of a eurozone meltdown.

Matt Basi, senior sales trader at CMC Markets, said the ongoing recovery in financial stocks underpinned the rise.

“The FTSE 100 posted another multi-year high, helped by the continued rise in banking shares as HSBC lent support to the positive sector review from UBS earlier in the week, moving 
Barclays and RBS to ‘overweight’ ratings,” he said.

The Footsie added 20.1 points to end the first full week of 2013 trading at 6,121.6. Barclays added 5.1p to 299.7p, aided by analysis from Cenkos Securities that suggests it is the least exposed of the UK’s big banks to a further downturn in the nation’s economic fortunes.

Royal Bank of Scotland, judged by Cenkos to be the most exposed, added 3.6p at 360.4p even as it reportedly haggles with US and UK regulators over its Libor-rigging fine. Credit Suisse did its bit for the financial sector as it tipped fund management as a growth sector for 2013. Aberdeen Asset Management was among the beneficiaries, adding 3 per cent to 391.5p.

But the biggest blue-chip riser was British Airways owner IAG, which soared more than 5 per cent on a broker upgrade from Switzerland’s other big broker, UBS. It pointed out that the stock had underperformed European sector peers last year and could be poised to catch up if it can resolve a dispute with staff at its Spanish arm. The shares climbed 10.7p at 207.6p.

Explorer Tullow Oil was the biggest top flight faller after a trading update revealed lower-than-expected production for 2012. Shares fell 39p or 3.2 per cent to 1,186p.

NEW YORK: Wall Street ended little changed last night as investors took a step back from buying ahead of next week’s busy corporate earnings calendar.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day up 17.51 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 13,488.73 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index closed infinitesimally down 0.04 points, or 0.0003 per cent, at 1,472.08. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed up 3.88 points, or 0.12 per cent, at 3,125.64.