Bouncing stocks give Footsie a lift

BRITAIN’S top share index nosed ahead yesterday to close above 5,700 for the first time in nearly three months as some heavily battered stocks staged recoveries.

The FTSE 100 ended the day up 8.42 points at 5,702.37, having bounced off a day low of 5,647.92 in a choppy session.

Will Hedden, sales trader at IG Index, said: “The leader board is filled with rebound stocks.”

Under-pressure hedge fund manager Man Group, which has halved in value in the last year, added 6.8 per cent after it reported a slowing in the pace of outflows from its funds. The group, which employs around 1,500 staff worldwide, said it is planning a further $75 million (£48.9m) of cost savings this year.

It reported that funds under management fell a further 9 per cent in the last three months of 2011 as markets continued to swing wildly in the quarter, but shares rose 7.3p to 114.4p.

Essar Energy was the top gainer, recouping some of the previous session’s sharp falls after saying it expects to challenge a ruling by India’s supreme court over deferring payment of a sales tax. Its shares gained 7.2 per cent to 136.2p.

And Carnival, owner of the capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia, recovered 3.3 per cent after being sold off sharply on Monday. It gained 62p to 1,971p.

Banking stocks reversed early losses after US giant Goldman Sachs posted a 47 per cent drop in net earnings to $4.4 billion for last year, and a 26 per cent decline in revenues.

But with the results largely better than expected, Lloyds Banking Group was up 0.1p at 29.6p and Barclays rose 1.9p to 201.1p. Royal Bank of Scotland, which has enjoyed a positive run in recent sessions, was flat at 24.8p.

NEW YORK: US stocks jumped to their highest since July last night as the IMF sought to help countries hit by the European debt crisis, while Goldman Sachs’ forecast-beating earnings dispelled worries over bank profits.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 96.88 points, or 0.78 per cent, at 12,578.95 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 14.37 points, or 1.11 per cent, to finish at 1,308.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed up 41.63 points, or 1.53 per cent, at 2,769.71.