Reuters: Hot Stocks: Britain's FTSE hits new five-year closing high

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Britain's FTSE hits new five-year closing high Mar 14th 2013, 17:29 Thu Mar 14, 2013 1:29pm EDT * FTSE 100 up 0.7 percent * Financials lead, Prudential extends gains * Aggreko jumps 6.9 percent on Africa power deal * Retailers advance, Morrisons and Ocado in talks By Tricia Wright LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares rose to a new five-year closing high on Thursday, led by financials, helped by further signs of strength in the U.S. economy. The FTSE 100 ended up 47.91 points, or 0.7 percent, at 6,529.41, its highest close since late 2007, after better than expected U.S. weekly jobless claims data. Some bet on more gains from the index, up almost 11 percent this year and around 6 percent shy of an all-time closing high of 6,930.20 set in December 1999, months before the dot-com bubble burst. "Overall the trend from a technical point of view looks healthy and upwards ... I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that the FTSE could hit an all-time high some time this year," said Angus Campbell, head of market analysis at Capital Spreads. Gerard Lane, equity strategist at Shore Capital, meanwhile, said: "In the back of my mind, I've got 7,000 for Christmas, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see a big shake-out before then, partly because we inevitably do," he said. Financials led the risers, with good gains seen from Prudential, up 2.7 percent, as yield-hungry investors continued to snap up shares in the insurer which ramped up its dividend by a bigger-than-expected 16 percent on Wednesday. Retailers were also in favour. Britain's fourth-biggest grocer Wm Morrison added 1.7 percent after raising its dividend by 10 percent and announcing talks with online grocer Ocado over an online food operation. Ocado, which has been the talk of bid rumours involving Morrisons and is one of the most shorted stocks on the FTSE indexes, also reported a strong rise in recent sales and jumped 23.7 percent, the standout midcap gainer. Britain's biggest household goods retailer Home Retail rose 12 percent after it hiked its profit forecast for the second time in 2013. Aggreko topped the blue-chip leader board, up 6.9 percent to 1,941.3 pence in trading volume at one-and-a-half times the 90-day daily average after striking a deal to supply power to EDM in Mozambique and NamPower in Namibia. Shares in the temporary power provider have had a torrid time since the company issued two profit warnings at late last year and remain well below the highs of around 2,400 pence seen last September. Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said the update gives additional support around the 1,820-1,850 pence after the recent bounce, and the possibility of further contracts could help with a return to 2,100-2,400 pence. "In the absence of additional contracts, bulls would do well to note, however, potential resistance at the 200-day moving average (around 2,050 pence) and the trendline of falling highs from September (around 2,100 pence)," he said in a note. Miners fell, capping the index's gains, with investors jittery over China given its recent indication that inflation concerns could take precedence over a pro-growth stance. The sector has underperformed the wider market significantly in 2013, down 2.1 percent. (Editing by Stephen Nisbet) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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