Standard Life has climbed to the top of the FTSE in early trading on Wednesday after announcing profitable 2007 results earlier today.
The investment firm, which has climbed 30p, or 13.71%, to 248.75p, has helped push the index up 83.3p, or 1.46%, to 5773.7 on the day of Alistair Darling’s first Budget. Old Mutual also sits near the summit of the winner’s table, climbing 5.6p, or 5.1%, to 115.3p, and is joined by BHP Billiton, Kazakhmys and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group. However, FTSE gains are being stemmed by losses for HBOS, down 12.5p, or 2.12%, to 577p and Associated British Foods, down7p to 840p. Smith & Nephew, Land Securities Group and Kingfisher are also down after only less than three hour’s trading. ...
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