Tuesday's was a yo-yo session for the FTSE 100, where a solid start unravelled in afternoon deals amid downbeat data from the US. The UK's leading index ended on the right side of breakeven, however, as hope returned that Wednesday's ECB refinancing operation will provide support.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 12 points or 0.2% at 5,928, while the FTSE 250 index added 57 points or 0.5% to 11,529.
Data from the US today revealed the consumer-confidence index rose to 70.8 in February, the highest level since the 72.0 reading in February 2011 and notably higher than economists' expectations. On a less sunny note, however, the Commerce Department reported that January durable-goods orders fell by 4.0%, nearly four times more than the expected 1.1% drop and the first time in four months that orders declined. The Case-Shiller 20-city index also revealed some downbeat data, with home prices falling 3.8% in December from November, and 4.0% year over year.
On the FTSE 100, Essar Energy (ESSR), Evraz (EVR) and Fresnillo (FRES) topped the leaderboard with respective gains of 5.4%, 3.6% and 2.6% amid hopes that ECB loans would help buoy demand for basic materials. The rest of the natural resources sector also offered support, while advertiser WPP (WPP) joined the risers with a 2.5% climb. The latter's peers have reported strong earnings recently, which has prompted Morningstar analyst Michael Corty to hike his fair value on the UK-based firm to 830p per share.
Among the casualties, aerospace and automotive parts company GKN (GKN) lost 4.4% after reporting a 3% fall in operating profit in 2011. Net debt jumped to £538 million from £151 million the previous year due to debt-funded acquisitions. Management said it expects 2012 to be another year of good progress for the group.
