BA £630m cash call helps FTSE take flight

At shortly after 9.30am, London's benchmark blue-chip index had risen 33.93 points (0.78%) to sit at 4,395.77. British Airways gained the most, rising 4.24% to 138p, on news it will announce a £630m cash call after reporting a £100m Q2 loss. The money will come from £300m of convertible bonds and £330m of bank guarantees, both of which had been set aside for the company's pensioners. Other stocks doing well in early trading included Xstrata and Hammerson, up 3.75% to 688p and 3.58% to 310p respectively. Engineer Invensys and laboratory testing group Intertek were stunting gains ...