Markets: Footsie advances as output founders

The FTSE 100 index jumped 1.4 per cent to close up 77.54 points at 5,712.82 despite grim factory output data from the UK, the eurozone and China.

Michael Hewson, senior analyst at CMC Markets, pointed out: “You’ve had the ridiculous spectacle of markets going up on bad economic data because it makes the argument for extra central bank largesse that much more compelling.”

Among the blue-chip risers in London, clothing retailer Next was the stand-out stock – up 4.5 per cent or 208p at 3,427p – after raising its full-year profit guidance on the back of soaring internet sales.

Glasgow-based temporary power supplier Aggreko was also near the top of the risers’ board, closing up 3.8 per cent or 78p at 2,120p, ahead of today’s interim results and after Edinburgh-based fund manager Baillie Gifford yesterday increased its stake in the firm.

Banking giant Standard Chartered, which is listed in London but does most of its lending in fast-growing economies in Africa and Asia, climbed 53p or 3.6 per cent to 1,517.5p following solid interim results, putting it on track for its tenth year of record profits.

Heading in the opposite direction, LSL Property Services suffered a second session of successive falls after the estate agency firm set cash aside to meet insurance claims. LSL fell 9.1 per cent or 20p to 200p, having dropped 12.7 per cent during Tuesday’s trading.

Weir Group, the Glasgow-based pumps and valves supplier, recovered some of the ground lost after Tuesday’s warning over reduced profits at its oil and gas business. Positive analysts’ comments from RBC Capital Markets and UBS pushed Weir up 2.1 per cent or 35p to 1,690p, recovering from the previous day’s 2.9 per cent fall.

In New York, the Dow Jones fell back after the Federal Reserve bank decided not to pump money into the US economy, pending figures on employment trends. Investors were disappointed at the announcement mid-afternoon by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, who admitted the US economy was weakening.