FTSE maintains momentum

BHP Billiton, one of the world's biggest mining companies, rose 5p to 451p. Severn Trent lost 32p to 799p after the water company’s stock changed hands without giving investors buying the shares today the right to the second- half payout of 29.27 pence. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 254.02 points to 11,641.72 earlier today, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced 47.04 points to 12,097.73. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index rose 45.70 points to 10,380.43 yesterday and the S&P 500 index gained 6.72 points to 1,132.01. Nasdaq's Composite index advance...