12 seconds ago 2009-12-06T22:05:02-08:00
LONDON (AFP) – The leading share index closed higher here on Monday on prospects for continued stimulus measures to underpin economic recovery in leading world economies.
The FTSE 100 climbed 1.8 percent to 5,235.18 points.
Market sentiment was lifted by a weekend decision by G20 finance ministers to stick to emergency stimulus support measures despite signs that the world was emerging from a long financial maelstrom, analysts said.
It acted as an "impetus," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.
"In other words, G20 finance ministers tempered the market's concerns about stimulus measures being withdrawn too soon," he said.
Venture capital company 3I Group was the most traded stock, seeing 153 million shares switch owners, followed by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which saw 117 million units switch hands.
RBS also topped the blue chip risers, climbing 2.34 pence -- or 6.3 percent -- to end at 39.395, followed by miner Kazakhmys, which added 73 pence -- or 6.02 percent -- to end at 1,286.
Telecoms firm Cable and Wireless suffered the biggest losses, slipping 2.2 pence -- or 1.58 percent -- to end at 136.8, followed by security firm G4S, which slipped 2.9 pence -- or 1.15 percent -- to end at 249.9.
Meanwhile, the pound gained ground against the dollar but dipped against the euro.
Sterling was trading at 1.6728 dollars at 15:58, up from $1.6613 at Friday's close, while it fell to 1.1150 euros from 1.1190 over the same period.
