FTSE 100 ends week's trading on a high
FTSE 100 ends week's trading on a high
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By Michael Younger. |  |
Friday, 29, Jan 2010 06:36
By Alex Steger.
The FTSE closed up on Friday evening by 48.18 points, or nearly one per cent.
The leading share index closed at 5,230.16 and at 16.35 GMT the biggest gains of the day had been made by Xstrata, which led the way at 3.53 per cent.
Whitbread, Amec, Rentokil Initial, and HSBC Holdings were the next four leaders as the markets closed for the weekend.
Severn Trent finished the day as the stock exchanges worst loser falling 0.35 per cent. British Land Co fell 0.36 and Land Securities Group slipped 0.39 per cent.
US stock indexes also rose sharply today in response to news that the US economy had grown by 5.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year. The Dow Jones gained 74 points on Friday and the Nasdaq futures market was up 15.25 points.
The news of the US economic growth follows another piece of good for the markets. On Thursday the US Senate confirmed Ben Bernanke would see out a second term as chairman of the US Federal Reserve. Uncertainty over the matter had put the markets off kilter over the past week.