FTSE climbs as Fed cut fails

Impressive gains for engineering support firm Wood Group (20%) and miner Kazakhmys (17%) have helped the blue-chip index climb to 4,322, a rise of almost 80 points, or 1.88%. The FTSE is now just short of 500 points better off than it had been on Tuesday. However, a near 16% fall for motor insurance group Admiral is stunting the FTSE’s progress in early trading. A late stock slump ruined impressive momentum on Wall St following the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut its key interest rate to 1%. The Dow Jones closed more than 74 points, or 0.82%, down at 8,990 having earlier pushed 9,350. ...