Markets: Caution the market order of the day

THE London market struggled to make gains yesterday as a boost from the banking sector was offset by caution ahead of tomorrow’s Greek election.

The FTSE 100 Index closed 11.8 points higher at 5,478.8 after the Bank of England tackled the threat of the eurozone crisis with a multi-billion pound lending scheme to avert a second credit crunch.

Michael Hewson, senior market analyst at CMC Markets, said: “The prospect of co-ordinated central bank intervention from central banks next week in the event of turmoil caused by the result of this weekend’s Greek elections has given markets a boost today, and calmed some rather frayed investor nerves.”

Nevertheless, inter-dealer broker Icap was in demand, on the grounds that it benefits from high trading volumes at times of volatility. Its shares were 15.5p higher at 365.5p.

Oil stocks rose as Brent crude continued its modest recovery from recent lows. That helped Glasgow-based engineering firm Weir Group move from recent lows, up 43p at 1,443p.

BSkyB and BT shares continued to come under pressure over fears that the media giants have overpaid in their £3 billion Premier League deal. BSkyB shares dropped 1 per cent or 9.5p to 661.5p while BT was 0.5p off at 201.2p as Wednesday’s deal for domestic live television rights for the three seasons from 2013-14 to 2015-16 continued to trouble investors.

Outside the top flight, shares in Irn-Bru maker AG Barr seem to have been benefiting from the demand for defensive stocks. They were up more than 12 per cent, after a 10 per cent rise on Thursday, despite no major update. The company speculated that investors were buying into the company after a period when shares had trended lower.

NEW YORK: US stocks rallied last night to close a second straight week of gains on hopes of collective action from global central banks if tomorrow’s election in Greece triggers market turmoil.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 115.26 points, or 0.91 per cent, to end at 12,767.17 while the broader S&P 500 Index gained 13.73 points, or 1.03 per cent, to finish at 1,342.83. The Nasdaq Composite added 36.47 points, or 1.29 per cent, to close at 2,872.80.