Vodafone Share News (VOD)

Strong gains for Prudential, Morrison and Aggreko helped push London's benchmark index into positive territory on Thursday morning, as traders showed optimism following recent bullish forecasts.US banking giant Goldman Sachs hiked its near-term target prices for the FTSE 100, saying that the index would hit all-time highs within the next year. To reflect an easing in financial conditions in the UK and a fall in sterling, Goldman has raised its FTSE 100 targets over the next three, six and 12 months from 6,200, 6,300 and 6,500, respectively, to 6,600, 6,800 and 7,200. Shavaz Dhalla, a financial trader from Spreadex, said this morning: "The report is sitting particularly well with investors as the general consensus prior to the report was that much of the optimism within the markets was based on sentiment instead of data. Thus, the bullishness from analysts is perhaps an indication that this year's rally is far from over."Also helping spur stocks this morning was fellow bank JPMorgan which upwardly revised its forecast for US economic growth after yesterday's better-than-forecast retail sales for February. The bank expects US gross domestic product to expand by 2.3% in the first quarter, well ahead of its prior 1.5% forecast.The retail sales figures saw US stock markets edge higher on Wednesday with the S&P 500 finishing at 1,554.5, just 11 points shy of its all-time high.Markets will be keeping their eyes on the European summit with kicks off today in Brussels, as well as jobless claims and producer-price figures out Stateside this afternoon.FTSE 100: Morrison jumps after online newsSupermarket giant Morrison may have reported its first annual profit decline in six years for 2012, but shares surged early on after the company unveiled plans to launch a shopping website, tapping into the fast-growing online grocery market. The company said it was in talk with Ocado and will launch its online store in 2014.Temporary power and temperature control firm Aggreko rose after winning contracts to supply122 MW of gas-fuelled power to utilities in Mozambique and Namibia from its facility at Ressano Garcia in Mozambique, the largest cross-border interim power plant in the world. Prudential, the insurance and pensions group, was extending gains made yesterday after a well-received set of full-year results. Also on the rise was telecoms group Vodafone after saying that it planning to increase its focus on delivering an enhanced approach to customer engagement, founded on a new, Vodafone-owned marketing platform, to be developed and implemented throughout 2013. The news came as it decided to drop its sponsorship deal with McLaren.FTSE 250: Home Retail rockets after hiking profit guidance...againAfter signalling higher-than-expected full-year profits earlier in the year, Home Retail, the owner of Argos and Homebase, further raised its guidance this morning after reporting a strong end to its financial year. Shares rocketed after the firm said that full-year profit before tax would come in at £90m. This follows the company's statement in January which said that the figure would be £10m ahead of the current (at the time) market consensus of £73m. The market celebrated Ocado's full-year results this morning, as well as its new potential partnership with Morrison. The online grocer delivered a 14.4% rise in first-quarter sales.Wholesale group Booker was also a high riser after the Competition Commission provisionally approved its acquisition of fellow cash-and-carry chain Makro.FTSE 100 - RisersAggreko (AGK) 1,916.00p +4.19%Prudential (PRU) 1,171.00p +4.09%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 281.50p +3.65%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,456.00p +1.68%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,748.50p +1.60%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 877.00p +1.45%BT Group (BT.A) 269.40p +1.35%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 171.20p +1.30%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,076.00p +1.22%Sage Group (SGE) 346.20p +1.17%FTSE 100 - FallersMeggitt (MGGT) 477.50p -1.42%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,154.00p -1.28%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,334.50p -1.26%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,085.50p -1.02%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 50.90p -0.91%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,523.00p -0.65%Evraz (EVR) 249.50p -0.60%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,637.00p -0.55%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,476.00p -0.54%Anglo American (AAL) 1,851.00p -0.48%FTSE 250 - RisersOcado Group (OCDO) 167.00p +21.54%Home Retail Group (HOME) 151.60p +14.07%Savills (SVS) 593.00p +6.75%Booker Group (BOK) 123.70p +6.64%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 35.01p +3.46%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 85.55p +2.46%Hays (HAS) 98.85p +2.28%Carpetright (CPR) 659.50p +2.25%Grainger (GRI) 134.90p +2.20%Computacenter (CCC) 489.30p +2.11%FTSE 250 - FallersFerrexpo (FXPO) 195.10p -4.13%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 119.30p -2.77%Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 495.67p -1.56%Henderson Group (HGG) 168.70p -1.29%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 52.90p -1.12%Diploma (DPLM) 594.50p -1.08%Dexion Absolute Ltd. GBP Shares (DAB) 144.20p -1.03%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 314.60p -0.91%Alent (ALNT) 381.20p -0.83%Menzies(John) (MNZS) 762.00p -0.78%BC