SHARES STRONGLY UP/DOWN this week 02/01/06 (Master RSI)

London shares enjoy strong start to year, with oil, mining stocks leading way

LONDON (AFX) - Leading shares began the year impressively, reaching fresh
four-and-a-half year highs as dealers returned to trading rooms following the
Christmas and New Year festivities.
At 10.03 am, the FTSE 100 was 53.8 points higher at 5,672.6, just off the
session high, with the broader indices all gaining.
Volume was healthy, with 443.6 mln shares changing hands in 55,224 deals.
With oil prices trading above 61 usd a barrel and news that Russia was
pressing ahead early this morning with the process of restoring normal supplies
of natural gas to European nations, it was BG Group that led early risers.
Overnight, normal pressure was re-established on pipelines running from
Ukraine to Hungary, and further on into Austria, the Vienna and Budapest
governments said.
Among energy stocks, BG was 15 ahead at 589-1/2, with BP up 7-1/2 at
626-1/2, Royal Dutch Shell 'B' shares 25 higher at 1,796 and Cairn Energy
gaining 37 at 1,957.
Miners were also in demand as copper and gold prices traded at higher
levels. Xstrata rose 38 to 1,398, with BHP Billiton up 16-1/2 at 966, Kazakhmys
gaining 11-1/2 at 785, Antofagasta 23 higher at 1,892, Rio Tinto rising 29 to
2,684, and Anglo American 25 up at 2,004.
AstraZeneca was another gainer, 39 higher at 2,868, after seeking permission
from US regulators to market Seroquel as a treatment for bipolar depression,
adding a new use for its top-selling anti-psychotic drug.

WPP took on 9-1/2 at 638-1/2 after Lehman Bros upgraded the stock to
'overweight' from 'equal-weight', advising clients to switch into the stock from
rival Publicis, which it downgraded to 'equal-weight' from 'overweight'.
Compass Group rose 2-3/4 to 223 on news Richard Cousins, the former head of
BPB, may have been approached to become the new chief executive of the embattled
catering group, according to a report in today's Independent.
Next was 5 higher at 1,540, as a report in the Daily Telegraph suggested the
retailer will tomorrow say it has halted its dramatic decline in sales as it
becomes the first of the high-street majors to announce trading figures for the
run-up to Christmas.
The chain's sales update is expected to show like-for-like growth in the
quarter to Dec 24 was down by 3.0-5.0 pct -- an improvement on the 6.0 pct fall
reported in September.

Electra Investment Trust led the mid-cap risers yesterday, up 70 at 1,190,
after agreeing to sell Inchcape Shipping Services, an independently managed
network of ship agents, for 285 mln usd to Istithmar, a major investment house
based in the United Arab Emirates.
William Hill gained 22-1/2 pence to 558 after the bookmaker said that its
profits for last year were likely to be above expectations as it looked forward
to a strong 2006 boosted by the football World Cup.
Cookson Group jumped 6 pence to 431 after Numis Securities raised its target
to 514 pence from 465, while reiterating its 'buy' rating, following the firm's
recent disposal of its SCS unit.
In other news, Virgin Mobile rose 1-3/4 to 378-3/4, after its board was
expected to reject a higher cash offer of about 360 pence a share from NTL, the
cable company that is considering making a renewed push for the mobile phone
firm.

Soco International surged 22 to 808 after finding oil in the first
exploration well it spudded on the East Shabwa field in Yemen.
The hole, known as Jathma-1, flowed over 1,900 barrels of oil per day, Soco
said in a bullish drilling update.
On the downside, retailers Woolworths Group, down 1 at 37-3/4, Body Shop,
off 4-3/4 at 258-1/4 and HMV slipped 3-1/4 to 177-1/2 after data showed the cold
weather over the Christmas period might have deterred already reticent shoppers.
Footfall, the retail information provider, said the amount of people
traipsing the high street between Dec 26 and 30 -- normally the height of the
post-Christmas sales season -- fell by 12.4 pct compared to the equivalent
period last year.

Among small caps, solid progress was seen in Futuragene, 6-1/2 pence ahead
at 97, after Paul Murphy, financial editor of the Guardian newspaper, tipped the
stock for 2006.

Elsewhere, Northern Petroleum shot up 7-1/2 pence to 66, and Polyfuel 4 to
56 -- gains of 17 pct and 7.7 pct respectively -- as the Mail on Sunday
described the stocks as courageous tips for 2006.