London bluechips surged ahead today boosted by encouraging economic data and positive corporate news for drugs and financial stocks. At the closing bell, the FTSE 100 index was up 54 points to 4,215.1. Investor confidence was underpinned by news that the purchasing manager index of activity in the UK manufacturing sector rose to 51.9 in August, from a revised 51.1 in July, according to the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. The rise in business activity spurred hopes of a better-than-expected pick-up in earnings for the year and of a general turnaround in the economy.
In corporate news, Astrazeneca, the second largest drug maker in Europe, jumped by 70p to 2,500 after successful early trials in the US for its experimental drug Exanta and its blood pressure treatment Atacand. Early studies and trials revealed that Exanta, when given in combination with aspirin, reduced the risk of death, recurrent heart attack or severe chest pain in patients who had suffered a previous heart attack. Also in the sector, shares in GlaxoSmithKline rose by 34p to 1,241 and Smith & Nephew was down by 0.75p to 405. //www.fxcentre.com