FTSE 100 stays flat
Thursday 19th March 2009, 5:25PM GMT.
The FTSE 100 has remained steady, rising 0.31 per cent over the day to close at 3,816.93.
A rally in financial and mining stocks, helped by news of a US plan to buy bonds, was offset by falls elsewhere, including the food and drink sector.
Legal & General shares jumped 22.12 per cent to 38.10p, while FirstGroup was up by 20.67 per cent, and Barclays rose by 17.19 per cent.
A rise in metal prices also helped boost mining stocks, with Kazakhmys up 15.33 per cent and Xstrata up 13.65 per cent.
However, a mix of utilities, food & drink and pharmaceutical stocks weighed on the index.
Shire fell 5.42 per cent, AstraZeneca was trading 4.97 per cent lower, Associated British Foods fell 4.74 per cent and National Grid closed 5.19 per cent down.
Ryan Kneale, market analyst at BetsForTraders.com, said: “News from the US last night that the Federal Reserve are prepared to see the banking crisis out and use every tool at their disposal, has had a really positive effect on European equities this morning. Banking stocks are soaring and hopefully now we will see the cost of lending begin to fall.”
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