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FTSE100 closes 25 points up with Ashtead biggest gainer

Published: 17:17 02 Sep 2015 BST

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Britain's blue chips closed higher on Wednesday on what was a topsy turvey trading day and as traders mulled US data.

Top dog was plant hire firm Ashtead Group (LON: AHT), which added almost 8% to 72p after it announced a  decent set of interim numbers. It also benefitted from an upgrade from City broker Charles Stanley, which sent it to 'buy' from 'accumulate'.

Concerns appeared to have been"overplayed", it said.

Miners were in the doldrums again, however, with commodities giant Glencore (LON:GLEN) down almost 8% at 123p, while Randgold (LON:RRS) was down 2.24% at 3,838p.

Having started the day in the black, the FTSE 100 Index fell into the red in mid-morning but rebounded in afternoon trading and finished up almost 25 points at 6,083.

 Stateside data showed  US employers created about 190,000 jobs in August, up from 177,000 in July but just below the 200,000 that markets were expecting, according to research group ADP.

One commentator described the figures as "rock-solid", with only the energy sector showing weakness. The data was among several economic releases out today in the US, which economists will study for clues about an interest rate rise.

Also there was US factory orders, which showed a gain in July but it  was growth short of analysts' expectations.

Joshua Mahony, at IG index, said: "This week will only get more volatile and more unpredictable as we approach the business end of the week, which culminates in Friday's US jobs report.

"There does not appear to be any major economy which is particularly outperforming on the global stage, and with the Chinese crisis yet to fully feed into Western economic data, central banks will no doubt be braced for unsteady times ahead."

Today, crude oil prices tumbled as inventories rose for only the second time in six weeks, at a time when Saudi Arabia continues to produce more than its OPEC quota,  making it clear that the supply glut is not over.

Oil majors fell. BP (LON:BP.) backtracked lost 1.17% to 345.3p and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) was 0.33% off at 1633.5p.

Car parts and bike retailer Halfords (LON:HFD) reversed 8.59% to 466.20p after it forecast worse-than-expected second quarter cycling sales, although it said trading in other areas was robust.

Among smaller stocks, Empyrean Energy (LON:EME) lost 4% to 6p as it revealed steady production despite major flooding.

Miner Mwana Africa (LON:MWA) fell 13.04% to 1p on news of plans to raise just short of £3.7mln to shore up its balance sheet and expand its diamond operation.

Advertising agency Spaceandpeople (LON:SAL) advanced over 12% to 86.50p on a new five-year deal with Network Rail to provide ads at train stations.

Hopes of upbeat news from forthcoming investor events in the US propelled shares in antibiotics developer Motif Bio (LON:MTFB) ahead by 11.47% to 60.75p.

Motive Television (LON:MTV), the tablet TV firm rose 25%, while Amur Minerals (LON:AMUR) added 19.64% to 16.75p as it emerged it had pocketed 60% more than originally anticipated from its equity swap arrangement with Lanstead Capital with one monthly payment still outstanding.

Receipts from the facility so far amount to approximately £3mln.

Stratmin Global Resources (LON:STGR) added 3.45% to 3.75p as it agreed to sell a 25% stake in its Madagascar mine to specialist graphite investor, ASX-listed Bass Metals.

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