- Telecom stocks helped pull the market ahead today, helped by an upbeat session yesterday on Wall Street.
After an hour trading the FTSE 100 Index had continued its gains from yesterday to rise 20.1 points to 5120.8.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the tech-dominated Nasdaq both posted strong gains on Monday, which gave a boost to tech shares in morning trading in London.
Cable & Wireless rose 7p to 224p, heavyweight Vodafone was up 2p at 129p and mmO2 rose 1p to 63p.
BT Group, which today announced plans to cut wholesale prices for broadband internet access, was up 1p at 265p.
Chip designer Arm rose 9p to 283p, while software firm Sage was 2p ahead at 199p.
FTSE 250 stocks ahead included Telewest Communications, up 0.5p at 17p and troubled Marconi, up 0.5p and 20p.
Moving in the opposite direction, however, was Lucky Strike-to-Dunhill cigarette giant British American Tobacco, which slipped 2p to 651p despite turning in full-year results in line with expectations.
Rival Footsie firm Imperial Tobacco slipped 8p to 935p.
Among the smaller stocks, industrial materials group Cookson, which has been hit by tough trading conditions, surged ahead after reporting results showing it had met targets.
EGi News 26/02/02
