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FTSE gains after good day on Wall Street

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  • By Matthew West
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The FTSE has gained 46 points, or 0.8%, to 5837.50 so far this morning helped by an indication from the US Federal Reserve that the run of interest-rate increases in the world's biggest economy may be nearing an end.

BHP Billiton and Anglo American have led mining stocks higher as metal prices have climbed while Brambles Industries has gained after selling a trash collection unit to Veolia Environnement SA.

The Fed said after European markets closed yesterday that further rate increases will depend on the outlook of economic growth and inflation as indicated by data. The overnight lending rate was raised to 5.25%, up from 1% two years ago.

BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, has gained 2.9% to 1,061p. Anglo American, the world's second largest, has advanced 2.9% to 2,225p.

Copper prices has risen in London and Shanghai as investment funds bet that a pause in US rate increases will bolster economic growth in the world's second-biggest consumer of the metal. Copper has gained as much as 4.1% to $7,600 in London, after gaining 5.8% yesterday.

Brambles, the world's biggest supplier of pallets used to move and store goods, is up 2.9% to 431.5p. Veolia, the world's biggest water company based in Paris, has agreed to buy Cleanaway UK from Brambles for £595m in cash.

In Japan stocks jumped, rounding off their best week in almost three months, on the news from Federal Reserve.

Exporters including Toyota Motor and Canon also advanced after a US gross domestic product report showed the economy expanded at the fastest pace in eight years in the first quarter while inflation was lower than expected.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 384.03 points, or 2.5%, to 15,505.18 at its close in Tokyo.

Toyota, the world's largest car manufacturer by value, climbed 240 yen, or 4.2%, to 5,990. Canon, the world's largest seller of digital cameras, added 130 yen, or 2.4%, to 5,610. Nissan, Japan's second-largest car manufacturer, surged 60 yen, or 5%, to 1,250.

Meanwhile in the US the Dow Jones industrial average surged 217.24 points, or 1.98%, to 11,190.80, its biggest single-day jump in three years.

In corporate news, cereal and snack-food maker General Mills posted a 52% drop in quarterly profit — matching Wall Street estimates — after the sale some of its businesses inflated year-ago results. General Mills rose 15 cents to $51.61.

Ford Motors added to the car industry's woes after The Wall Street Journal quoted chairman and chief executive Bill Ford as saying it was facing worse-than-expected sales declines amid high gasoline prices. Ford slipped 8 cents to $6.28.

Merrill Lynch upgraded component McDonald's, to "buy," citing forecasts for improved sales and margins. McDonald's gained $1.59 to $33.56.

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