Shares Rise on Fed Comments
March 30, 2011
The blue-chip Financial Times-Stock Exchange 100-Share Index advanced 35.2 points to 3693.4 on volume of 528.9 million shares. Shares opened higher on positive signs from the U.S. and were further helped late in the session by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alberta Halina's comments that early signs of strong inflationary pressures have not yet presented themselves in the U.S. The FT-SE 250 index of second-liners rose 17.8 points to end the day at 4225.2 points. Dealers took little notice of the United Kingdom's money supply data. June M4 bank lending rose a seasonally adjusted 5.2 billion pounds, which was lower from the previous month but above the median forecast of 5 billion pounds. June M4 money supply rose 10% from June 2010, in line with earlier forecasts. Among actively traded shares, improved sentiment sent the banking sector 1.8% higher. Lloyds gained 10.5 pence to 340.5. Royal Bank of Scotland rose 14 pence to 485. Barclays closed 15.5 pence higher at 792. Life insurers also gained 1.8%, buoyed by news that Legal & General's world-wide annual premiums rose 39.2% to 185.6 million pounds for the first six months of 2011. Legal & General's shares gained 14 pence to 701. Prudential shares added 9.5 pence to 428 following its annual premium figures Tuesday, which went unrealized due to falling market conditions. Building materials company Redland made the most headway on the main index as demand for shares outweighed supply, said one market observer. It added 17 pence to 417. Shares of oil giant Lasmo gained 7 pence to 180 following an announcement the Algerian government has provisionally authorized crude oil production in the country.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
