FTSE 100 closes higher on commodities

Monday, 03 August 2009 12:00

The FTSE 100 closed 1.61 per cent higher at 4,682.46, led by a jump in commodities.

Oil exploration firm Petrofac rose by 11.53 per cent, after UBS raised its recommendation to buy from neutral.

Miner Kazakhmys was up by 8.76 per cent, while Eurasian Natural Resources was up by 7.12 per cent.

Barclays, up by 6.7 per cent, and HSBC, up by 4.98 per cent, were also among the risers on the index today, after reporting earnings this morning.

Several defensive stocks were in the red, including Imperial Tobacco, which fell by 2.45 per cent, Centrica, down by 1.61 per cent and Smith & Nephew, trading 1.18 per cent lower.

Going into early afternoon trading over in the US, markets were trading slightly higher.

The Dow Jones index was up by 1.01 per cent, while the S&P 500 rose by 1.10 per cent, as a rise in sales at Ford helped boost recovery hopes.

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