Heavy weightings helped the FTSE 100 gain 21.30 points to 4,882.50 by the close, as investors bought into the biggest banking, telecoms and pharmaceutical companies.
Vodafone added more than 4 points to the index, after gaining 1.75p to 139.75p. HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank by market capitalisation value, added 5p to 852.5p, while GlaxoSmithKline gained 8p to 1,348p. BAT maintained its gains from this morning sparked by a 24% increase in quarterly profit, ending up 21.5p at 995.5p. Next, the clothing retailer, lost 28p to 1,475p as another report hit the sector warning of falling high street sales. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index has gained more than 75 points to 10,332 on news of a huge jump on General Motors shares. The car maker ...
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