FTSE ahead in early trade
Headline shares were slightly ahead in early trade, helped by a positive performance on Wall Street last night, as the Fed raised hopes that its cycle of interest-rate increases may be over.
At 8:30am, the FTSE100 was up 9.3 points at 5,516.5 with the FTSE250 off a point at 8,515.9 and the AIM100 ahead 3.1 points at 5,223.9.
US stocks ended higher on Wall Street last night after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the 13th consecutive time by 25 basis points to 4.25%, but altered its policy statement, indicating that further increases were unlikely, traders noted.
The DJIA added 55.95 points to 10,823.72, helped by strong gains for Pfizer, Procter & Gamble and Altria, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 4.05 points to 2,265.
Across Asia overnight, the Nikkei closed 314.28 points lower at 15,464.58, while the Hang Seng ended 33.64 points higher at 14,976.26.
In the UK today, Marks & Spencer stood out with a gain of 2.75p to 480.75p after CSFB raised its target to 500p from 430p previously and reiterated its outperform stance on the stock.
'M&S retains a significantly under-geared balance sheet suggesting potential for a material capital repatriation over the medium term forecast period,' the Swiss-based broker told clients.
PartyGaming was also lifted by upbeat broker comment with HSBC raising forecasts and lifting its target on the online poker giant to 134p.
PartyGaming shares opened 1.5p higher at 129.5p, recovering some of yesterday's heavy losses following a downgrade to underweight by Lehman Brothers.
Hanson meanwhile, added 3p to 625p after being upgraded to hold from reduce at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in a preview of the UK conglomerate's full-year results due on December 20th.
In a note to clients, the broker said asbestos no longer appears to be a poison pill, making a bid for the group more likely.
Among the fallers, BAT shares drifted 10p lower to 1,265p after Lehman Brothers downgraded the shares to underweight in a European tobacco sector note.
The US broker also cut Gallaher to underweight, sending its shares 2p lower to 885p.
On the second line, RHM added 5.25p to 263p after reporting a 7.6% rise in first-half profit as job cuts and strong sales of Hovis bread sheltered the British food producer from rising raw material prices and a weak performance by its Mr Kipling cakes arm.
United Parcel Service stock quotes
United Parcel Service stock charts
Follow this thread
