London Report: Third straight day of gains sees FTSE erase 2014 losses
BRITAIN’S top equity index erased its losses for the year as it rose for a third straight session yesterday, boosted by BHP Billiton and telecoms giant BT.
Shares in global mining firm Billiton rose 1.9 per cent after first-half profit beat forecasts and it hinted at a share buyback in August, despite a cautious outlook on Chinese growth.
Concerns about the Chinese economy and emerging markets remain, but they have eased considerably over the past two weeks, thanks to better economic data from China and a pledge by the Federal Reserve to keep US interest rates low.
The FTSE 100 ended up 60.43 points, or 0.9 per cent, at 6,796.43 points. It has now risen in nine of the last 10 sessions, taking its total gain over that period to 5.4 per cent. That is its best run since October, and leaves it up 0.7 per cent year-to-date. It now faces psychological resistance at 6,800.
BT was the top FTSE riser, after the Court of Appeal said a lower court should review the way pay-TV group BSkyB sells its sports channels to rivals such as BT. Its stock rose 13.8 per cent.