FTSE 100 continues rally

Thursday, 07 May 2009 12:00

The FTSE 100 has continued its rally, rising 1.31 per cent to 4,454.26 in early trading, led by bank and commodity stocks.

The UK's blue-chip index has been hitting four-month highs this week as investors become more optimistic.

Legal & General led the risers and was up by 13.15 per cent after a Goldman Sachs analyst said fears over the insurer's balance sheet had been overplayed.

Rival insurer Old Mutual also rose in early trading, and jumped 6.71 per cent, followed by consumer products group Unilever, up by 6.39 per cent.

Commodities were also rising on the index, with Kazakhmys up 5.28 per cent and Tullow Oil up 4.77 per cent.

US stock markets were up strongly last night after investors were cheered by the leaked results of the government's stress test for banks, which indicated US institutions are stronger than was feared.

Better-than-expected jobs data also helped the New York-based Dow Jones index to rise 1.2 per cent, while Chicago's S&P 500 was up 1.7 per cent.

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