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FTSE100 closes up; Rolls Royce takes podium

Published: 13:07 19 Jun 2014 EDT

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Footsie stayed positive Thursday and ended almost 30 points up as Wednesday's Fed comments boosted sentiment and Rolls Royce (LON:RR.) stayed at the top of the pile the whole day.

Fed chair Janet Yellen said stimulus measures were still needed as the tapering programme was stepped up by the amount expected.

She also struck a soothing note to investors by saying interest rates would continue to stay low.

FTSE100 finished at 6,801.11, up 29.55 points.

Notably, in macro data, the UK' retail sales dropped in May compared to the previous month, although it was less than analysts expected as World Cup fever took hold boosting kit sales.

The biggest gainer was engineering giant Rolls Royce (LON:RR.), which added 8.12% after it said it planned to buyback £1bn worth (around 5% of its market cap) of shares instead of making a major acquisition.

Also up was house builder Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV), which added 3.91%. Today, broker Liberum repeated its 'buy' stance on the  shares. Other housing stocks were also up - Berkeley Group added 3.49%, while Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW.) added 2.18%.

Telcoms group BT (LON:BT.A) was up 1.95% as it was bolstered by the regulator's decision to dismiss a complaint from Talk Talk about alleged abuse of its dominant position in the  braodband space.

On the flipside, Publishing Technology (LON:PTO) was down over 23% as it issued a profit warning, saying it expects results  to end December this year to fall below market expectations.

In the junior market, there were some notable risers including Horizonte Minerals (LON:HZM), as it said it was ready to take the next significant step in de-risking its Araguaia nickel project in Brazil having filed its social environmental impact assessment (SEIA) with the authorities in Pará State.

Pinewood Shepperton (LON:PWS) rose 13.33% after it received planning permission, at the umpteenth time of asking, for its Pinewood Studios Development Framework.

Europa Oil & Gas (LON:EOG) added 6.78% as it and Edgdon Resources (LON:EDR) told investors of a favourable ruling by the court of appeal for a proposed drill programme in the Weald basin, onshore UK.

It means a proposal for the programme will go back to the planning inspectorate for redetermination, and this may involve a further planning inquiry.

Also up on the day and continuing its good run was Leni Gas & Oil (LON:LGO), up 9.76%% and Cyan Holdings (LON:CYAN), up 6.98%.

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