Northern Rock top of the FTSE

Shares in the crisis-ridden bank rose 5.91% to 273.25 while Resolution also had a strong day’s trading as the Office of Fair Trading rubber stamped its merger deal with Friends Provident. House builders were among the day’s biggest losers with Barratt Developments down 3.19% and Taylor Wimpey falling 3.27%. The US market had a strong start with the Dow Jones up 40 points to 14,055 and the S&P500 rising 5 points to 1,559. Buyers of US stocks were buoyed by better than expected retail sales data and a weaker than expected inflation forecast. McDonald’s was amongst the winners as it pred...