BRITISH stocks ended the week with a flourish, responding mainly to a burst on Wall Street and expectations that another round of British takeover bids could be about to be launched.
There was no doubting that Wall Street provided the most influential boost to sentiment in London. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up over 50 points shortly after the opening of trading in the US yesterday, in the wake of encouraging economic news on retail sales and producer prices, both of which indicated the US economy was growing within acceptable limits.
There was some confusion over the retail sales details, which were initially interpreted as bearish, but were later seen in the light of a revision to the previous month's figure. But the good news on US producer prices, which rose 0.3 per cent on the headline figure - well within the forecast range - gave an instant fillip to US Treasury bonds.
The Dow rose over 50 points minutes after the opening, triggering a sharp upward move in British equities, where the FT-SE 100 raced up to close at a session high of 4,028.1, a net gain of 33.4. The feelgood factor in the leaders spilled over into second line stocks and small capitalisation issues, which have tended to outperform the FT-SE 100 stocks over the recent period of turbulence.
The FT-SE Mid-250 rose 11.0 to 4,443.8, enabling the index to post a 5.9 gain on the week, while the SmallCap index was 3.1 firmer at 2,178.0.
