Markets: Strong banks secure FTSE 100 gains

17:10 - London’s leading share index sailed across the finishing line on Wednesday, fuelled by a strong start to Wall Street trading.

The FTSE 100 (UKX) ended the day 48 points higher at 6085, managing to brush off a slump among the mining sector in afternoon trading.

Leading the winners’ board was GKN (GKN) with gains of 4.4%, closely followed by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

At a glance...

Commodities

Gold: $1,380.89 (up $3.94)

WTI oil: $84.30 (down $0.57)

Currencies

GBP/USD: 1.6058 (down 0.0091)

GBP/EUR: 1.1858 (down 0.0058)

EUR/USD: 1.3542 (down 0.0008)

16:50 - Video game retailer Game (GMG) received a lukewarm reaction from investors today when it unveiled its new strategy.

The company said it will place greater emphasis on online and digital revenues in a bid to fend off competition from e-tailers.

Game's chief executive, Ian Shepherd, warned that the group's "gross margin percentage will decrease as online and digital revenues become a larger part of our sales mix."

16:32 - Wall Street continued its rally on Wednesday after French drug firm Sanofi-Aventis SA offered $20.1 billion for biotechnology firm Genzyme Corp. The agreement came after months of negotiations between the two companies.

On the data front, the Commerce Department reported new home construction up 14.6% in January and this added to the positive sentiment.

The Dow Jones was up 57 points at 12284 an the S&P 500 was up seven points at 1335. Meanwhile the Nasdaq completed the trio to go up 18 points at 2822.

16:15 - The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has levied fines totalling £143,500 on two firms which failed to check the suitability of the pension switching advice they gave their customers.

Perspective Financial Management (PFM), based in Milton Keynes, was fined £49,000, while Cricket Hill Financial Planning Ltd (Cricket Hill), in Barnsley, was fined £70,000, along with the firm’s director Jeremy Sheard who will pay £24,500. His colleague Mark Kelsey, responsible for compliance, was issued with a public censure.

For more, read: FSA fines two firms for pension switching.

15:55 - Engineering contractor WS Atkins (ATK) said that it is trading in line with expectations but that market conditions remain challenging.

In its interim management statement the company stressed that government spending cuts mean hundreds of jobs are likely to go by the end of the year.

For more, read: Atkins to cut jobs in challenging market.

15:26 - Norseman Gold (NGL) has raised £10 million through a share placing as it seeks to ramp up production at its flagship Australian project.

The cash call saw the AIM-listed gold producer place a total of 22,222,222 new ordinary shares at 45p per share.

The proceeds will be used to bring the North Royal open pit at the Norseman Project into production, as well as provide additional working capital.

For more, read: Norseman gold in £10 million cash call.

14:59 - US markets kicked off Wednesday in good spirits, with M&A activity and strong corporate earnings leading the surge.

The Dow Jones recovered almost all of yesterday's losses to go up 31 points to 12276, while the S&P 500 climbed five points to 1334 and the Nasdaq rose 13 points to 1333.

14:33 - The pound fell against all major currencies after the latest Bank of England (BoE) inflation report showed it was unlikely to change policy tack and hike interest rates in the near future.

Against the euro the pound pared back 0.7% to 1.1874, while it lost 0.45% on the dollar to hit 1.6055. The yen and Swiss franc were also boosted against sterling following the release of the report at 10.30 GMT.

For the full story, read: King sends pound spiralling.

14:05 - The price of gold has climbed to a one-month high of $1,378 an ounce, fuelled by rising inflation fears.

The Bank of England’s Quarterly Inflation Report, in which Mervyn King hinted that there could be at least two interest rate hikes this year has sent investor interest in the commodities sector higher, analysts said.

Carsten Fritsch at Commerzbank commented: "Rising commodity prices alongside a reviving economy and ample liquidity suggest higher inflation risks in the long term, from which precious metals should benefit."

13:35 - BSkyB (BSY)  has been given the green light in its acquisition of public Wi-Fi provider The Cloud after the Office of Fair Trading announced its ruling at lunchtime on Wednesday.

BSkyB declared its intention to purchase The Cloud at the end of January 2011, in a deal believed to be worth less than £50 million. It plans to offer wireless broadband services together with its Sky Anywhere product, which allows access to Sky content on multiple mobile devices.

Following the OFT's decision the purchase is expected to move forward without any further issues.

13:04 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) remained comfortably in positive territory, with banks helping to offset losses in the mining sector.

London's leading share index was 36 points higher at 6073, with Resolution (RSL) and GKN (GKN) leading a list of risers which featured three banks.

Biggest fallers were BHP Billiton (BLT), despite revealing record profits and Tullow Oil (TLW) which announced it is abandoning its Mauritanian well.

12:40 - Chocolate retailer Thorntons (THT) blamed adverse weather conditions for an 8.5% drop in profit in the half year to 8 January.

The firm said it fell foul of poor weather in its second quarter, which caused supply chain disruption and cost it £0.5 million.

Profit before tax fell to £8.3 million, compared to £9.1 million in the first half of the 2009-10 financial year.

Read: Thorntons upbeat despite challenging conditions for the full story.

12:10 - Shares in Ascent Resources (AST) gained the most in four months after drilling operations on the Petisovci Project in Slovenia unveiled better-than-expected results.

The Pg-11 appraisal well encountered gas in all six of its target reservoirs intervals, as well as uncovered a new, unexploited gas reservoir.

The AIM-listed company hopes that the bonus gas find might lead to an increase in the current P50 estimate of gas-in-place, which currently sits at 412 billion cubic feet.

For more, read: Ascent Resources soars on Slovenian gas discovery.

11:40 - Shares in engineering group Morgan Crucible (MGCR) climbed after the firm reported a 59% rise in its full-year underlying pre-tax profit, helped by cost cuts and a strong performance at its ceramics division.

The British firm, which provides carbon technology services for the aerospace and space exploration industries, raised its final dividend by 11% to 5p, taking its total 2010 dividend to 7.7p.

For the full story, read: Morgan Crucible aims to double profits by 2013.

11:11 - The UK unemployment rate for the fourth quarter of 2010 was 7.9%, up 0.1% on the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed today.

In the three months to December the total number of unemployed people increased by 44,000 to hit 2.49 million.

For more, read: Youth unemployment jumps in latest figures.

10:40 - Precious metal producer African Barrick Gold (ABG) saw full-year profit more than triple in 2010 due to higher gold prices.

For the full year to 31 December net profit for the FTSE 100 (UKX) constituent soared to $218.1 million, compared to $58.5 million in the same period in 2009 - a boost of 272%.

For more, read: Profit triples for African Barrick Gold.

10:00 - British oil major Tullow Oil (TLW) slipped into the red on Wednesday morning after it reported disappointing results at its latest well, offshore Mauritania.

The group plans to plug and abandon its Gharabi-1 well, after it intersected "poorly-developed water-bearing reservoirs."

The well, in which it owns a 22.4% stake, was drilled to a total depth of 4,433 metres.

Read: Tullow Oil to abandon Mauritanian well for the full story.

09:33 - Oil and gas explorer Max Petroleum (MXP) has kicked off drilling activities at the ASK-1 exploration well on the Asanketken prospect in Kazakhstan.

The well marks the ninth of 15 post-salt exploration prospects scheduled to be drilled by the AIM-listed company on Blocks A&E.

ASK-1 should reach a total depth of 3,300 metres, targeting potential Triassic reservoirs, Max Petroleum said.

09:05 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) edged marginally higher in early morning trading, up 11 points at 6048.

Shares in African Barrick Gold (ABG), which issued strong preliminary results for the year to 31 December, topped the winners' board, up nearly 2% at 537p, while fellow commodity stock BHP Billiton (BLT) was at the bottom of the pile despite an earnings report showing record profits for the six months to the 31 December.

The mining giant's shares were down 30 points at 2469p, even though profit attributable to shareholders jumped 71.5% to $10.5 billion in its first half and revenue was up 39% to $34.2 billion.

For more on BHP Billiton, read: BHP Billiton reveals record profits.

US Markets

The Dow Jones and Nasdaq continued their poor form on Tuesday, with the former shedding 41 points for the day to end at 12226 and the latter falling 13 points to 2804. The S&P 500 was also marginally lower, down four points at 1328.

Financials presented a drag on Wall Street following the formal announcement of the New York Stock Exchange merger with Deutsche Boerse.

Meanwhile Intel (INTC), Oracle (ORCL) and Dell (DELL) led tech stocks lower.

At a glance...

Asian markets

Nikkei 225: 10808 (up 61)

Hang Seng: 23156 (up 257)

Shanghai Composite: 2924 (up 24)

Commodities

Gold: $1,376.95

WTI crude oil: $84.87

Currencies

GBP/USD: 1.6149

GBP/EUR: 1.1916

EUR/USD: 1.3550

08:00 The FTSE 100 (UKX) opens at 6037.