THE London market posted tentative gains today as investors shrugged off weak trading in New York and Asia overnight.
Disappointing residential construction figures dampened spirits on Wall Street, offsetting impressive figures from the likes of Caterpillar and Apple.
The FTSE 100 Index fell by than 30 points on Tuesday, but recovered much of this to stand 14.1 points higher at 5257.5 after an hour of trading.
Supermarket Tesco posted one of the biggest gains after broker Nomura flagged up the chain’s growth potential, particularly in the UK. Tesco shares rose 8.6p to 392.1p, while rival Morrisons added 4.1p to 277.2p and Sainsbury’s gained 4p to 351.8p.
Other major moves were seen by mobile phone giant Vodafone, which climbed 1.95p to 135.5p, and from BP after a gain of 4.1p to 573.1p.
Cadbury shares were 1.5p higher at 800p after it turned up the pressure on bid suitor Kraft by raising revenues guidance for the full year.
Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail Group retreated 5.7p to 302.3p after it said it remained cautious about trading prospects in the second half of the year, despite delivering half-year results in line with expectations.
