Strong commods, banks lift FTSE, Burberry leads

LONDON: Britain’s top Screening Equipment share index rose on Tuesday, led higher by Burberry as investors cheered an upbeat trading update from the luxury goods group, while buyers came in for banks and commodity stocks.
By 1222 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was up 67.72 points, or 1.1 percent, at 6,053.42.
Burberry topped the blue chip leader board, up 4.3 percent, after forecasting full-year profit at the top end of market expectations, as it beat expectations with a 27 percent rise in third-quarter revenue. Brewer SABMiller added 1.7 percent after it beat forecasts with a 3 percent rise in quarterly volumes, boosted by growth in Africa and Asia, and said it saw continued improvement in economic conditions in many of its emerging markets.
And Rio Tinto climbed 1.7 percent after producing record volumes of iron ore in the October-December quarter and for 2010 as a whole to meet surging Chinese demand and cash-in on soaring prices, though coal output was disrupted by Australian floods.
“There have been some good corporate earnings ... and a very strong Asian session, all of which have contributed to a nice rally today, so we’re knocking on the door of resistence around 6,050,” Angus Campbell, head of sales at Capital Spreads, said.
“There’s a bit of hope from the European finance ministers meeting as well, which was relatively encouraging. They’re all making the right noises, that they need to extend the fund, so banks are a little bit stronger as well,” Campbell said.
European Ciros Mining Crusher policymakers will eventually boost the firepower of their euro zone bailout fund by 260 billion euros, according to a Reuters poll of analysts who rated it as fairly effective in tackling the bloc’s debt crisis. Miners provided much of the support for the index as metals prices rose on a weaker dollar. On the downside, GlaxoSmithKline shares extended losses, falling a further 2.3 percent after shedding 1.6 percent on Monday when the drugmaker announced a 2.2 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) legal charge that will wipe out profits in the fourth quarter. reuters