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Royal Mail leads FTSE 100 higher | Royal Mail leads FTSE 100 higher |
(about 4 hours later) | |
(Noon): The FTSE 100 rose ahead of the expected announcement of a eurozone stimulus package, while Royal Mail shares rose after its latest trading update. | |
Royal Mail shares climbed 4.5% after it said parcel volumes during December were up 4%, while group revenues rose 1% in the nine months to 28 December. | |
The benchmark FTSE 100 index rose 30.69 points to 6,758.73. | |
Balfour Beatty shares rose 2.6% despite it issuing another profit warning. | |
The company said profit for 2014 at its construction business would be £70m lower than expected. The accountants KPMG have been reviewing Balfour's construction business and found that it had been bidding with "optimistic assumptions". | |
Shares in Oxford Instruments plunged by nearly 30% after it said it expected full-year profits to fall by more than a quarter because of poor trading in Russia and Japan. | |
The maker of nanotechnology tools now expects adjusted full-year pre-tax profits of £35m, against £47.1m a year earlier. | The maker of nanotechnology tools now expects adjusted full-year pre-tax profits of £35m, against £47.1m a year earlier. |
Oxford Instruments said its trading in Russia had been hit by the recent sanctions. | Oxford Instruments said its trading in Russia had been hit by the recent sanctions. |
"We now assume that no sales can be made to Russia for the remainder of this year and we are also assuming no sales to Russia next year," the company said. | "We now assume that no sales can be made to Russia for the remainder of this year and we are also assuming no sales to Russia next year," the company said. |
All eyes will be on the European Central Bank (ECB) later, as it is widely expected to announce a huge stimulus package for the eurozone. | All eyes will be on the European Central Bank (ECB) later, as it is widely expected to announce a huge stimulus package for the eurozone. |
Reports suggest the ECB could purchase government bonds worth up to €50bn (£38bn) a month until the end of 2016. | Reports suggest the ECB could purchase government bonds worth up to €50bn (£38bn) a month until the end of 2016. |
On the currency markets, the pound rose 0.23% against the dollar to $1.5179 and was 0.08% higher against the euro at €1.3053. |