Markets: Glimmers of optimism see FTSE rise

A RALLY by mining stocks helped the Footsie claw back some of Tuesday’s triple-digit losses yesterday as positive jobs data from America and optimism over a debt deal for Greece boosted traders’ confidence.

More jobs were created last month in the United States than analysts had predicted, stoking confidence in the world’s biggest economy, which in turn helped miners following the previous session’s sell off.

The mining sector had fallen by 9 per cent over the previous five days’ trading, with analysts suggesting the stocks had been over-sold.

Moscow-based miner Evraz led the charge, up 2.9 per cent or 11p at 391p, with Ferrexpo climbing 7.7p at 302.6p and Toledo 0.5p higher at 25.25p.

Banks held firm ahead of today’s Greek bond swap deadline, with Lloyds Banking Group 0.1p higher at 34.3p and Barclays also 0.1p ahead at 239p.

Royal Bank of Scotland was flat at 26.2p as markets showed little reaction to Business Secretary Vince Cable’s suggestion that the state-owned bank should be broken up in order to create a vehicle for lending to small companies.

Stocks turning ex-dividend – meaning shareholders buying the stocks would not be entitled to the most-recent payout – wiped more than 11 points off the FTSE 100 index, which closed up 25.61 points or 0.4 per cent at 5,791.41 following Tuesday’s fall.

Among the ex-dividend stocks, British American Tobacco was down 2.1 per cent or 65.5p at 3,126p, while building materials supplier CRH was 1.7 per cent or 22p lower at 1,263p.

Stocks in demand included Burberry which gained 3.2 per cent or 44p to close at 1,437p following renewed talk that China will cut import taxes on luxury goods to boost consumption.