Markets: Enthusiastic show led by Aggreko

The Glasgow-based firm jumped 5 per cent – closing up 105p at 2,205p – a day after posting a 23 per cent rise in profits to £148 million, with the Olympics alone bringing in some £55m of additional revenues.

Insurers were also in demand ahead of next week’s reporting season, with Aviva up 7.4 per cent or 21p at 306.2p and Prudential 6.1 per cent higher, up 45.5p at 791.5p. Aviva also received broker upgrades from both Credit Suisse and Investec.

Royal Bank of Scotland’s shares were 6 per cent higher, up 11.5p to 216p, after its interim results were in line with City expectations. Fellow banking stock Barclays climbed by 9.1p to end the day at 171.4p.

The wider FTSE 100 index soared 2.2 per cent or 124.98 points to close at a three-month high of 5,787.28 after up-beat jobs data from the United States.

Chris Beauchamp, a market analyst at IG Index, said: “After three consecutive misses for non-farm payrolls, the July report breezed past forecasts.”

Only two stocks were left on the Footsie fallers’ board, with defensive stock Diageo – Scotland’s largest whisky producer – ending the day down 10p at 1,707.5p and British Airways-owner International Airlines Group nose-diving 5.2 per cent or 8.3p to close at 151p.

IAG was dragged down by interim losses at Spanish carrier Iberia, which prompted chief executive Willie Walsh to launch a restructuring programme.

Among the Scottish stocks, Peter Gyllenhammar, the veteran Swedish value investor, emerged as one of the largest shareholders in troubled Stirling-based insulation maker SuperGlass. He has acquired an 8.2 per cent stake in the company, whose shares closed up 11.1 per cent or 0.5p at 5p.

In New York, stocks moved sharply ahead in early trading today, after the White House revealed a sharp rising in hiring by employers in July. The Dow Jones rose 244 points to 13,123 shortly before noon.

US markets had been down all week after central banks in the US declined to take action to stimulate growth, as hoped for by investors.