FTSE 100 roars back after Draghi brings the cavalry again

European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi got on his steed and rode to the rescue of global equity markets today. The FTSE 100 index shot up over 100 points to 5,773 after Draghi, who once calmed markets with a vow to do “whatever it takes”, signalled that the ECB has plenty of ammo to fire at the markets, though probably not until after the central bank's March meeting. “Since the ECB just recently expanded the duration of the asset purchase programme, the most likely policy change in March would be further cuts to the deposit rate and the inclusion of different financial instruments,” speculated Jasper Lawler, aa market analyst at spread betting firm CMC Markets. “An increase to the size of monthly purchases seems like a tall order when the December ECB minutes signalled a number of participants were unsure about the need for any extra stimulus,” he added. UK equities were already in decent shape before Draghi's speech, buoyed by decent updates from some household names, and the handful of blue-chip losers was dominated by stocks trading ex-dividend. Educational and scientific publications specialist Pearson (LON:PSON) topped the leader board, despite issuing a profit warning. Shares climbed 17.41% to 772p, as the former Financial Times owner maintained its dividend and announced a £320mln shake-up that will see 4,000 jobs go. The City usually reacts well to a jobs cull, unless it is City jobs that are going, so there might have been some mixed feelings at Barclays' (LON:BARC) announcement that it is to cut 1,000 jobs, though seeing as the cuts are going to be in Asia, as operations from Australia to Malaysia and Singapore are shut down, City traders could celebrate without fear. The shares rose 2.25% to 186.15p. If Pearson's share price rise after a profit warning was unprecedented, “Big Data” software group Fusionex (LON:FXI) crashed over 36% to 212.5p despite publishing results that were ahead of market forecasts. Tjhe company appears to be suffering by virtue of being a Chinese company at a time when economic growth in the People's Republic is slowing. Among the tiddlers, investors applauded copper cathode producer Weatherly's (LON:WTI) operational update. After some initial teething problems, output at its Tschudi asset in Namibia has achieved nameplate production capacity, while cash costs have also been reduced. The shares hardened 9.1% to 0.30p. SeaEnergy (LON:SEA) was on the crest of a wave, rocketing over 46% to 4.75p, as its Return to Scene division agreed to agreed to a strategic partnership with Universal Spatial Solutions P/L, based on the East Coast of Australia. The agreement is for the deployment of a full range of forensic and asset management solutions, initially across Australia and New Zealand. Mid-session Footsie stood firm against the rout seen elsewhere overnight as investors waited see what US markets would do today after yesterday’s rollercoaster. The FTSE 100 Index climbed 21 points to 5,696 even though oil fell again to US$27.5 per barrel. Decent updates from some household names and a better day all round for the miners helped the mood. One time FT owner now education specialist got Pearson (LON:PSON) bounced 100p to 713p as it warned on profits but maintained its dividend and announced a £320mln shake-up that will see 4,000 jobs go. Barclays (LON:BARC) is another stalwart wielding the axe with 1,000 jobs to go in Asia as operations from Australia to Malaysia and Singapore are shut down. Like Pearson, the bank was rewarded with a share price rise albeit a more modest 1% to 184p. Energy utility SSE (LON:SSE) also lost its spark by 12p to 1346p as the UK competition regulator delayed the publication of its long-awaited energy supply review from this month to the spring. Meanwhile, signs that the market downturn was unlikely to end any time soon came in the form of a report from data firm Markit showing that current Footsie short interest stands at 1.75% - the most since the start of the market correction. Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB), which recovered 3p to 1280.5p following a profit warning on Wednesday, now has 5% of its shares shorted. Car accessory and bike retailer Halfords (LON:HFD) motored 30.3p to 355p as it buoyed investors with news of higher Christmas sales and left annual profit forecasts unchanged. Online retailer N Brown (LON:BWNG) jumped 14% to 319.5p as sales in the last 18 weeks climbed 4.1%. The Simply Be and Jacamo brand group said online sales rose by 13% while Christmas had been good. At the other end of the scale, investors lost their appetite for Premier Foods (LON:PFD) after the Kipling cake and Sharwood's curry sauce maker said an unexpectedly mild December and a decision to reduce promotional activity of Ambrosia held back grocery sales in the third quarter. Shares fell 2.5p to 36.75p. Shares in Chemring (LON:CHEM) tumbled after the defence group unveiled lower annual profits and outlined plans for an £80.8mln fund-raising. The stock fell 16.15p, or 9%, to 162p after underlying pre-tax profits in the year to October 31 dipped to £19.8mln from £28.1mln on a 6.4% drop in revenue to £377mln. Elsewhere, Fox Marble (LON:FOX) softened 1.1p to 11.4p as the Balkans-focused quarry owner forecast 2015 sales of about €230,000 with most of the existing 2015 order book pushed into the first half of 2016. Big Data software group Fusionex (LON:FXI) crashed 35% to 212p despite publishing results that were ahead of market forecasts and an upbeat management statement. Surgical Innovations (LON:SUN) meanwhile gained 21% to 1.55p as sales were around £5.5mln for the year a 36% improvementhttps://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png on the preceding year. Alliance Pharma (LON:APH) lost 0.5p to 48.5p despite predicting a rise of more than 10% in 2015 group revenue to £48.2mln, excluding joint venture sales.