The London market made a solid start today after trading updates from two of its highest profile stocks earned a positive reception in the City.
With Cable & Wireless up 5% and Norwich Union owner Aviva ahead 2%, the FTSE 100 Index overcame the latest fall for the Dow Jones Industrial Average to stand 1.9 points higher at 4,814.4 in the first hour of business.
Aviva led a rally by insurers after it confirmed a return to sales growth in the UK in 2004 and said it was confident about prospects for the year ahead.
Aviva shares rose 14p to 634p while Prudential was up 5.75p at 453.75p and Friends Provident cheered 1.5p to 160p.
Elsewhere, investors took the latest sales decline at telecoms group Cable & Wireless in their stride. The performance – showing quarter-on-quarter sales down 1% in lower in the final three months of the year – was better than expected and sent shares up by 6.25p to 119p.
Among other moves, mining stocks lost some of their steam following strong gains in recent sessions.
Anglo American led the decline, with a drop of 15p to 1,237p, while Rio Tinto slipped 15p to 1,675p and Xstrata eased 7.5p to 923p.
References: EGi News 25/01/05
