Markets: Aberdeen leads way in second day of gains

The London market continued its recovery yesterday as traders picked through the casualties of a month-long sell-off looking for bargains.

With metal prices remaining weak, the mining-heavy Footsie underperformed other indices but still added 63.57 points or 
1 per cent at 6,165.48, with beleaguered Aberdeen Asset Management leading the way.

Brenda Kelly, senior market strategist at IG, said: “Aberdeen recently saw its share price deteriorate by almost 30 per cent since its highs of 28 May. Investors saw value in the put-upon stock, giving it the top place on the FTSE 100 index.”

The wealth manager gained almost 5 per cent at 378.3p, following a string of recent “buy” notes from brokers.

Among the miners, Anglo American fell 43p to 1,256p, Fresnillo was down 32p at 866.5p, and Randgold Resources plunged 125p to 3,972p as gold prices continued to soften.

Legal & General rose 3.5p to 169.1p after it bolstered its retirement arm with the acquisition of closed annuity fund Lucida in a deal worth some £150 million.

In the second tier, Direct Line was 3.8 per cent higher after announcing it will more than double it annual cost savings target to in excess of £200m. Shares rose 8.3p to 227.4p.

The news helped other insurers, with Prudential up 2.7 per cent or 28p to 1,059p and Aviva 6.6p higher at 336.2p.

Transport group Stagecoach was 10.5p higher at 310p after announcing better-than-expected full-year underlying profits. It also increased its dividend by 10.3 per cent.

On Aim, Edinburgh-based driller Bowleven unveiled BP veteran David Clarkson as operations director. However its shares were fractionally lower yesterday at 60.75p.

NEW YORK: Wall Street rallied for a second straight session last night as a downward revision in the US economy’s growth rate soothed investor concerns that the Federal Reserve would soon begin to withdraw its stimulus.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 149.83 points or 1.02 per cent, to end at 14,910.14 while the broader S&P 500 gained 15.23 points or 0.96 per cent, to finish at 1,603.26. The Nasdaq Composite added 28.34 points or 0.85 per cent, closing at 3,376.22.