London blue chips roared away as investors took some comfort from US Fed boss Janet Yellen’s latest thoughts.
Footsie was 108 points higher at 6,070, with a rally in Germany by Volkswagen and other car groups helping the mood across Europe.
The beleaguered German car maker announces its new chief executive today with Porsche boss Mathias Mueller the heavily backed favourite.
Fire-fighting doesn’t do the task ahead justice as more countries today announced enquiries into diesel emissions for VW cars in their countries, with Spain said to be recalling over 700,000 vehicles.
Meanwhile, Yellen’s speech to students and academics at Amherst College contained was as open to interpretation as usual said Fed watchers.
She signalled base rates would increase this year, but that further rises would be gradual.
Connor Campbell, at spread bet firm Spreadex, said: “The Fed chair appeared to provide a bit of much needed clarity, claiming that the majority of the Federal Open Market Committee, including Yellen, expect a 2015 lift-off.
“This leaves the announcement of a rate-hike in October or December on the cards, providing the kind of future anchoring event for the markets they have been sorely lacking this week.”
Glencore (LON:GLEN) led the risers as it recovered slightly from its battering yesterday. Shares rose 5% to 104p.
Other miners were also on the up, especially copper plays. Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) rose 17p to 529p, Anglo American added 3% to 643p and Rio Tinto gained 56p to 2,241p.
US sportswear group Nike’s stunning results overnight, which included bumper sales in China eased some concerns that the Chinese consumer is under the cosh.
Gold miners move to a different beat to their base metal cousins and US broker Jefferies reckons only African group Acacia is worth considering.
“With a gold price tail-wind unlikely to reappear, the is Acacia Mining (LON:ACA), which can still increase free cash flow and enhance its net cash position.”
Other gainers today included Marks & Spencer (LON:MKS), up 16p at 500p, and chip designer ARM ( LON:ARM) up 33p at 960p.
Lloyds rose 1.4% to 74.9p as the UK government sold more shares to reduce its stake to
Away from the index, Synergy Healthcare (LON:SYR) was the biggest gainer as a court ruled against the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) request for an injunction to block Steris’s acquisition of the company. Shares leapt 44% to 2,275p.
In the small cap space, Bagir Group (LON:BAGR) saw sales slip and losses widen as the company warned that things aren’t likely to get much better in the second half.
Shares dropped 27% to 4p today, having only listed in April last year at 56p.
African Potash (LON:AFPO) jumped 9% to 3.12p as it revealed it will be paid US$500 a tonne on the 50,000 tonne delivery to a Zambian distributor.
CCTV group SerVision dropped sharply after a placing raised £800,000 at a 24% discount to last night’s close.