FTSE smiles again as it nears 6,000

Whilst Johnson Matthey, down 3.73%, and British Energy Group (-3.30) struggled, Home Retail, HBOS and Experian helped to haul the FTSE up slightly. Home Retail rose 13.50p, or 5.66%, to 252p, making it the day’s biggest winner, while HBOS climbed to 358p, a 17.5p, or 5.14% increase. Experian also had a good day, climbing 4.37% to 399.75. British Airways and RBS were close behind. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones has made a positive early start in early trading, having climbed 1.03%, or 128 points, to 12,518.47 continuing the modest gains of yesterday. Verizon Communications is today’s bigg...