The FTSE 100 opened higher Tuesday, tracking strength overnight on Wall Street, as Legal & General (L&G) beat profit forecasts and lifted its final dividend payout by a third.
Shortly after opening, the index advanced more than 20 points, or 0.36%, to reach 5,664. L&G increased more than 5% to 85.6p after announcing 2009 operating profit rose 51% on the year to £1.3bn, outstripping the £1.1bn pencilled in by analysts. It is also paying a total dividend of 3.84p per share, ahead of forecasts of 3.67p. Elsewhere, Prudential added 1.52% to 534.5p and Aviva rose 1.13% to 403.8p. Retailers were the biggest fallers: Kingfisher dropped 1.72% to 229p while Home Retail Group dipped 1.35% to 278.1p. Overnight in New York, the Dow Jones advanced more t...
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