London shares rose in early trading on Tuesday as a strong US close helped traders to shrug off downbeat corporate news.
The FTSE 100 Index increased 15.6 points to 6377 in the first hour of trading after the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session up 165 points.
Dealers stayed positive despite news of a £3.3bn rights issue at Standard Chartered (LON:STAN), which took a hit from the economic downturn in China and Asia.
Shares in Standard Chartered, which also announced 15,000 job losses and a third-quarter slip into the red, fell 33.8p to 679.8p.
On the economic front, commentators were expecting improved UK construction purchasing managers' index data for October after the sector held back economic growth in the third quarter.
Back in the markets, Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) dropped 26p to 3408p as the Primark owner reported lower annual profits.
Drug group Shire (LON:SHP) reversed 70p to 4815p after Monday's move to buy rival Dyax, although fresh rumours were circling about a possible acquisition of US hyperkalemia specialist ZS Pharma (NASDAQ:ZSPH).
Imperial Tobacco wafted 29p higher to 3526p as the maker of Lambert & Butler and Gauloises cigarettes boosted profits despite a hit from geo-political woe.
In small-caps, Providence Resources (LON:PVR) backtracked 0.38p to 21.25p despite winning a two-year extension to its standard exploration licence 1/11 in the North Celtic Sea basin off the south coast of Ireland.
Sirius Petroleum (LON:SRSP) lifted 1.19% to 0.42p after securing consent to drill the proposed Ororo-2A well on the Ororo Field from the Department of Petroleum Resources in Nigeria.
Diamondcorp (LON:DCP) sank 0.75p to 7.88p on news of delays at its Lace diamond mine in the Free State province of South Africa.
MARKET PREVIEW
Encouraged by yesterday's strong showing on Wall Street, the Footsie should get off to a flying start today.
Spread betting quotes point to the FTSE 100 opening at around 6,392, up 30 points on last night's close.
US indices had a bonanza day yesterday with the the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 165 points, 0.9%, to 17,829 while the S&P 500 added 1.2% at 2,104 and the Nasdaq moved 1.4% higher to 5,127.
A flurry of M&A activity provided many of Monday’s highlights Stateside, including the agreed bid for Dyax by Shire (LON:SHP), and the purchase of Visa Europe via a US$23.4bn (€21.2bn) deal by the firm;s US sister company, Visa Inc.
Towards the end of trading in Asia, the Hang Seng was up 240 points at 22,610.
Asia-focused London-listed bank Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) announced a significant restructuring that will involve job cuts and the closure of certain operations; it also plans to raise US$5.1bn through a rights issue on the basis of 2 for 7 at 465p a share.