well up

Press, 1 September 1986, Page 16

well up

By

DUNCAN HOLIOBONE,

of Reuters London Equities finished sharply higher in London on Friday in a week which saw a late resurgence of demand at the end of a long account, closing over the three-week period with advances in excess of 130 points on the FTSE 100 share index. The short week started on a slightly firmer note after the market had consolidated the substantial gains seen at the start of the account, with sentiment underpinned by steadier crude oil prices. Receding prospects of easier interest rates did little to dent market confidence and buying sentiment found renewed strength, buoyed by the prosect of forthcoming flotations.

. The FT 30 share index closed 40.7 per cent up at 1311.9 and the FTSE 100 share index ended 54.1 higher at 1661.2, showing respective gains of 94.5 and 134.5 over the three-week account.

In the leading issues ICI firmed 73p to 1077, Glaxo 40p to 990, Beecham 23p to 416, BTR (with figures due this week) 27p to 315, GKN Isp to 282 and Thom EMI lOp to 497. Blue Circle closed 5p off at 551 after half-year pretax profits of £42.8M against £52.3M.

Aerospace Industries benefited from expectations of good orders at the forthcoming Famborough air show, dealers said. Hawker Siddeley rose 20p to 511. British Aerospace gained lOp to 508. Press reports, denied by the company and the British Government, that Britain was about to pull out of a new European Airbus project, took some of the edge from Its advance, dealers said.

The preliminary prospectus from Trustee Savings Bank Group focused attention on an undervalued bank sector and generally whetted the market’s appetite for bank shares ahead of the TSB flotation. Barclays rose 37p to 524, and Midland 30p to 567. Natwest at 557 and Lloyds at 467 rose 40p.

Dealers said the recent strength in oils, helped by the steadier erode price, slowed after second-quarter results

from BP, which returned a historical cost net income of £236M, against £BS9M. BP closed 21p up at 661 with Shell 43p higher at 928 against a background of steadier crude prices. Insurances attracted late demand, with Guardian Royal 35p up at 879 and Sun Alliance 28p higher at 722, both with figures due this week. Sedgwick Group closed the week 22p down at 343 after interim figures, an acquisition and cash call. Dealers said the half-year pre-tax profits of £92.6M. against £78.1M, were roughly in line with forecasts. Sedgwick said it has acquired Crump Companies Inc of the United States, for around SUS3O7M, and announced a one-for-six fully underwritten £IB6M rights issue to help finance the acquisition. Pearl Assurance closd 43p firmer at 1518 after news of six months pre-tax profits of £9.41M against £4.16M previously. •" Closing prices of a selection of issues on the London Stock Exchange on Friday (in pounds): Ampol 0.87, Allied Lyons 3.43, ANZ Bank 2.03, BP 6.60, BHP 3.21, Bond 1.37, BAT 4.15, BTelecom 2.08, BWar Loan 38%, Coles 1.93, CRA 2.48, CSR 1.11, Dalgety 3.00, Elders 2.03, Fletcher 1.43, Glaxo 9.90, ICI (Aust) 0.98, ICI (UK) 10-25/32, Lloyds Bank 4.67, Marks Spe 2.16, MIM 0.73, Nat Aust 2.18, Nth BH 0.93, NZI 0.61, Pand O 5.15, Plessey 1:94, Prudent 8.97, Reed Int 2.46, Renison 2.96, Reuter ‘B’ 5.10, RTZ Reg 6.12, RTZ Bear 6.24, Shell Tra 9.26, Thom ord 4.97, TKM 1.72, Transport Dev 1.71, Unilever 19, Western Min 1.41, Westpac 1.90, De Beers $U56.55.