FTSE 100 soars on G20 hopes

Thursday, 02 April 2009 12:00

The FTSE 100 surged on hopes for the G20 meeting, up 4.28 per cent to 4,124.97, closing above the 4,000 barrier for the first time in over a month.

As prime minister Gordon Brown promised a new world order with a trillion-dollar pledge to fix the global economy, the UK's leading share index was soaring.

Kazakhmys led the rally, rising 17.56 per cent to 460.25p, while investment firm Man Group jumped 17.22 per cent.

Several banks were also performing strongly on the index, with Royal Bank of Scotland shares up 13.55 per cent and HSBC up 11.87 per cent.

A handful of stocks were in the red, including mining firm Randgold Resources, down 4.71 per cent, and RSA Insurance, which slipped by 2.95 per cent.

US markets also responded positively to the G20 summit. The Dow Jones climbed 3.26 per cent on opening, while the S&P 500 rose 3.71 per cent.

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