A weak start to Tuesday trade on the back of eurozone clashes was repaired in afternoon deals thanks to late support from Wall Street.
The FTSE 100 index closed 19 points or 0.3% firmer at 5,786, while the FTSE 250 index slipped 6 points or 0.1% to settle at 11,797.
While bond investors and politics followers were glued to events in Athens, London shares were led higher by ITV (ITV) and financials, while natural resource stocks and Vodafone (VOD) were the laggards.
Broadcaster ITV’s standout performance saw shares jump 9.0% to the top of the blue-chip leaderboard. The firm today announced that it expects net advertising revenues to be broadly flat in 2012, a notable improvement on market expectations for a decline. With the ad market suffering of late, shareholders welcomed this news and several brokers were prompted to issue upbeat research notes.
Financials also offered support to the index, amid rumours that Spain may be edging closer to requesting a bailout. Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) took on 3.1%, while Standard Chartered (STAN) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) added 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively.
Much less in demand was Anglo American (AAL), which led the losers with a 3.2% fall after the miner said it is going to cost more than previously thought to get its Minas Rio Brazilian project on line--$8 billion is now the expected total cost, while also announcing it expects to see a hit from the recent strikes at its iron ore business in South Africa.
Other natural resources stocks were also out of favour, with Polymetal International (POLY), Vedanta Resources (VED) and Evraz (EVR) sliding 1.1%-2.1% each.
Last but by no means least, heavyweight Vodafone lost 2.5% on Tuesday after the mobile giant wrote down £6.9 billion from its Spanish and Italian businesses as a result of the weak consumer environment in the southern European countries. Vodafone also disappointed by confirming that it expects £2.4 billion from its share of a dividend from Verizon, in which the UK firm has a vested interest. Shareholders had been hoping to receive more and today’s news raised concerns about Vodafone’s own dividend outlook.