London close: Shares rally on US growth data

Shares gave up their lacklustre start to close with good gains after better than expected growth in the US renewed confidence in the global economic recovery.

The preliminary report on US GDP revealed the world's largest economy expanded at an annualised rate of 1.6% in the second-quarter, better than the 1.4% predicted, but down on initial estimates of 2.4%.

Earlier, an unexpected upward revision to UK second-quarter growth estimates kept UK shares moving in the right direction.

Britain's economy expanded more than initially thought in the second quarter, figures showed today. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1.2% during the three months to June, an even higher reading than the better than expected 1.1% growth reported for the period last month. The upward revision comes amid strength in the construction industry.

Oil stocks slipped back, with BP and Tullow Oil notable fallers, but miners recovered. BHP Billiton and Lonmin were among the sector giants to close higher after earlier weakness.

The bid battle for oil explorer Dana Petroleum is widely regarded as done and dusted but the North Sea-focused firm is not giving up without a fight. It cranked up pre-tax profit by 274% in the first half of 2010 to £82m, pointedly noting that this was higher than its profit figure for all of 2009. The UK group said it will provide detailed reasons for its rebuttal of KNOC's £18 per share offer by 8 September.

JKX Oil & Gas thanked higher oil prices and an increase in overall production for an 11% rise in after-tax profit for the half-year, but it warned output had fallen in the third quarter. Sales jumped 33% to $104.5m.

Serviced office specialist Regus said the market remains very challenging and difficult to predict as it announced a slump in half-year profits. Profit before tax and exceptional items in the first half of 2010 tumbled to £9.7m from £50.7m the year before. After exceptional items the company posted a loss of £6.1m, compared to a profit of £69.0m the year before. Revenue slipped to £515.5m from £557.4m a year earlier.

Engineering conglomerate Melrose saw profits surge in the first half despite revenue going slightly ex-growth year-on-year. Headline profit before tax for the first half of 2010 was £78.1m, up from £53.0m the year before, while "as reported" profit before tax was £60.4m, versus £38.4m last year.

Rightmove, the property website, ramped up revenue by 26% in the six months to June 30 and has continued that kind of performance through July and into August. Profit before tax increased to £24.5m from £17.6m a year ago on revenue from continuing operations up to £39.2m from £31.2m as average spend per advertiser rose 20% to £365 per month.

Strong growth in Asia helped media agency Aegis lift underlying interim profits by a fifth. Total revenue rose by 4% to £663m, with operating profits up 20% at £61.1m. Pre-tax profits rose by 8% to £48.3m.

Independent News and Media, publisher of the national newspaper the Independent, reported an improvement in advertising trends as it posted a rise in profits in the half year to June 30.

Pre-tax profits climbed to EUR53.3m from EUR38.3m on revenues that rose to EUR656.5m from EUR608.8m.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 66.60p +6.39%
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 594.50p +4.02%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 154.00p +3.04%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,436.00p +2.94%
BT Group (BT.A) 134.30p +2.83%
Bunzl (BNZL) 703.00p +2.63%
Carnival (CCL) 2,121.00p +2.51%
Old Mutual (OML) 127.80p +2.40%
Prudential (PRU) 566.00p +2.35%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 611.50p +2.17%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,211.00p -3.81%
BP (BP.) 380.25p -1.39%
BAE Systems (BA.) 297.20p -0.97%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,126.00p -0.62%
Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 556.50p -0.45%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 43.67p -0.41%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,855.00p -0.27%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,520.00p -0.26%
SABMiller (SAB) 1,845.50p -0.24%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,588.00p -0.19%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Melrose (MRO) 243.10p +9.70%
Hunting (HTG) 604.00p +6.71%
Xchanging (XCH) 130.90p +5.74%
Connaught (CNT) 13.96p +5.52%
Carillion (CLLN) 311.80p +5.34%
Wellstream Holdings (WSM) 532.00p +5.24%
Lamprell (LAM) 258.00p +4.75%
Laird (LRD) 126.80p +4.71%
Forth Ports (FPT) 1,346.00p +4.42%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 289.90p +4.28%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Yell Group (YELL) 14.79p -4.40%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 329.90p -2.71%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 175.00p -2.56%
Meggitt (MGGT) 261.70p -2.13%
Senior (SNR) 111.20p -2.03%
Supergroup (SGP) 975.00p -2.01%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 390.70p -1.91%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 270.70p -1.85%
Hiscox (HSX) 363.00p -1.60%
Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 64.00p -1.54%