Blue-chip stocks were bouncing back today, in what is expected to be a quiet session on the London Stock Exchange.
After an hour the FTSE-100 Index was up 28 points at 5616.4 after closing down yesterday, with a mixture of old and new economy stocks leading the way.
The rise came despite a late fall on the tech-dominated Nasdaq overnight in the US, but investors have been reassured by indications that markets on Wall Street will open up this afternoon.
In slim trading, telecom stocks were regaining lost ground, with Cable & Wireless rising 15p to 489p, Telewest Communications ahead 2p at 118p and Colt Telecom up 20p at 790p.
News group Reuters was also in high spirits, rising 21p to 861p while investment bank Schroders jumped 41p at £10.59.
High-street giant Marks & Spencer led the FTSE fallers board early on, after rising 7% yesterday on news of its restructuring plans. A muted reaction from City analysts saw the stock fall 6p to 260p.
With little corporate news, motor services group Lex Service sparked by more than 3%, or 15p, at 474p, after announcing a £112m deal for windscreen replacement group Auto Windscreens.
Software group Autonomy, recently relegated to the FTSE-250 Index, was also ahead 18p at 685p. The group is setting up a business in Singapore to drive sales in Asia.
EGi News 30/03/01
