FTSE 100 up on Spain’s austerity budget
The leading share index opened up this morning. Headline mining shares rose as metal prices rallied.
Spain’s austerity budget, unveiled yesterday, settled Eurozone nerves and dragged the FTSE 100 up, as the index went back above the 5,800 level in early trading.
Aquarius Platinum topped the leaderboard this morning, up almost five per cent.
Engineering consultancy Hyder Consulting was up 4.88 per cent, as it announced first-half pre-tax profit would be well ahead of expectations.
Cloud computing firm Phoenix IT was up 4.69 per cent in early trading, after crashing 35 per cent in one day earlier this month as it announced a £14m accounting black hole.
Miner Bumi added four per cent, after several consecutive days of share price drops thanks to an investigation into financial irregularities at its Indonesian operations.
Electrocomponents led the FTSE All-Share down in early trading, sliding eight per cent as it issued a profit warning this morning.
The London Stock Exchange Group fell 7.32 per cent, as it said this morning that proposals to tighten collateral requirements will reduce treasury income this year.
Real estate investment company Invista European fell 4.59 per cent, while photo booth provider Photo-Me International dropped 2.54 per cent.
Banking shares rose on news of Spain’s budget. HSBC rose 0.09 per cent, Barclays was up 1.82 per cent, RBS added 1.13 per cent and Lloyds Banking Group increased 2.82 per cent.
In Asia, the Nikkei dropped to a two-week closing low, down 0.89 per cent. Over the pond, the Dow Jones closed up 0.54 per cent.