London close: BoE and ECB relieve market angst

As might have been expected, in their first meeting with Mark Carney at the helm the Monetary Policy Committee [MPC] managed to surprise markets by introducing a first taste of the much-vaunted forward policy guidance.Although analysts' reactions seem to be somewhat mixed, with some seeing hints of a forthcoming increase in quantitative easing and others exactly the opposite, there is unanimity as regards some points. In particular, the MPC does seem united in their preoccupation with the recent rise in market rates. As well, it seems clear that Carney means to introduce changes in the bank's communications policy, although it remains to be seen how fast he will be allowed to go. Worth calling attention to, at least one Strategist, Ishaq Siddiqi at ETX Capital, highlighted the following: " [...] Big surprise on that side with BoE saying the Fed's intentions to taper asset purchases has led to a rise in market interest rates which weighs on the UK economic outlook."Acting as a backdrop, Portuguese bond yields retreated as the smaller of Portugal's two coalition political parties, the CDS, made conciliatory noises, reducing market angst at the prospect of the government falling apart in that Iberian country. For now most market experts do not seem overly worried by the risk of contagion from Portugal and the immediate risk of a political upheaval seems to have been contained, nevertheless "austerity fatigue" in the Eurozone periphery may be a far larger risk than some would like to think, muses Alex Bueso, Editor in Chief at Digital Look. In any case, late in the session European Central Bank [ECB] Chief Mario Draghi weighed in with his own introduction of "forward guidance" in that central bank's communication and policy strategy. Draghi assured his audience that Eurozone interest rates would stay low "for an extended period of time" That led to another leg higher in stocks over on the Continent. In parallel, for now at least events in Egypt seem to be progressing in a peaceful manner. All of the above came on a day of low trading volumes on the back of the Independence Day holiday in the States and ahead of tomorrow's monthly employment report in America.FTSE 100: Banks led gainsRoyal Bank of Scotland (RBS) gained following news its rivals were considering bids for its retail products and equity derivatives business. BNP Paribas, Commerzbank and Societe Generale are mulling over bids for some or all of the business, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.easyJet rallied after the low-cost airline announced a 1.9% rise in passenger numbers in June.Gold miner Randgold Resources rose after US broker Citigroup upgraded the stocks to 'neutral' from 'sell' on Thursday, citing the group's debt-free position and the potential of new mine Kibali.On the downside, Schroders dipped as the asset manager said it has launched sterling hedged share classes on two of its European funds and two Japan-focused products. Security services company G4S slumped after Deutsche Bank reiterated a 'hold' rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.Whitbread arose after weakness earlier in the session as analysts at Nomura reiterated their recommendation to clients to buy.Gold miner Centamin saw shares jump by nearly a sixth on Thursday after the President of Egypt, where its flagship Sukari mine is located, was ousted by the military. Centamin has been involved in a legal dispute with Egypt's administrative court since the government came into power, regarding the validity of its Sukari licence.Analysts at Investec said on Thursday that while the political chaos in the country is "unsettling", it may not be necessarily bad for Centamin which had only encountered tenure issues since Mohamed Mursi was elected. "Providing protests and disruptions do not result in fuel or explosives issues for the mine, CEY could continue as normal throughout this uncertainty," they said.Housebuilders also performed well this afternoon after a series of upbeat trading updates. Taylor Wimpey rose after trading at the upper end of company expectations during the first half of its financial year, following improvements across most of its markets in the UK. Redrow said that full-year profit will be above the top end range of market expectations, while Galliford Try reported that it had delivered record annual profits, in line with consensus forecast. Sector peers Bellway and Barratt Developments were also in demand.FTSE 100 - RisersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 284.10p +5.22%Wolseley (WOS) 3,200.00p +5.09%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,496.50p +4.83%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,191.00p +4.66%GKN (GKN) 322.10p +4.65%Anglo American (AAL) 1,263.00p +4.64%CRH (CRH) 1,352.00p +4.64%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 711.40p +4.48%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,786.00p +4.42%Persimmon (PSN) 1,266.00p +4.37%FTSE 100 - FallersSchroders (SDR) 2,236.00p -0.84%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 812.50p -0.18%Pearson (PSON) 1,206.00p +0.92%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,525.00p +0.93%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,288.00p +0.93%G4S (GFS) 228.60p +0.97%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,072.00p +1.04%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,762.00p +1.19%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,105.00p +1.35%William Hill (WMH) 458.30p +1.42%FTSE 250 - RisersCentamin (DI) (CEY) 35.75p +14.77%Lonmin (LMI) 281.00p +8.08%IP Group (IPO) 150.00p +7.53%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,035.00p +7.22%Redrow (RDW) 237.90p +7.16%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 103.80p +7.07%Regus (RGU) 179.60p +6.34%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,972.00p +6.20%AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) 333.40p +6.18%Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,350.00p +5.55%FTSE 250 - FallersHalfords Group (HFD) 310.40p -1.30%Essar Energy (ESSR) 124.00p -0.64%United Drug (UDG) 328.40p -0.48%Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,057.00p -0.47%Countrywide (CWD) 538.00p -0.37%Perform Group (PER) 489.00p -0.20%Devro (DVO) 291.50p -0.17%Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 227.30p -0.13%Kentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) 380.10p -0.11%Ocado Group (OCDO) 304.00p -0.03%FTSE TechMARK - RisersNCC Group (NCC) 141.00p +11.68%Promethean World (PRW) 13.00p +4.00%Optos (OPTS) 118.50p +2.60%Ark Therapeutics Group (AKT) 0.48p +2.13%E2V Technologies (E2V) 120.00p +1.48%Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) 153.75p +1.15%Emblaze Ltd. (BLZ) 50.00p +1.01%Sepura (SEPU) 126.25p +1.00%Innovation Group (TIG) 28.00p +0.90%Vislink (VLK) 32.50p +0.39%FTSE TechMARK - FallersPhoenix IT Group (PNX) 153.50p -2.23%RM (RM.) 64.00p -1.92%Parity Group (PTY) 28.50p -1.72%Antisoma (ASM) 1.50p -1.64%BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 15.25p -1.61%Vectura Group (VEC) 77.00p -1.28%SDL (SDL) 289.00p -0.69%CML Microsystems (CML) 476.50p -0.21%Kofax (KFX) 332.00p 0.00%Triad Group (TRD) 10.50p 0.00%WB