London close: Fed optimism bolsters Footsie gains

Footsie finished with strong gains going into the weekend after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said prospects for a return to global growth look good.'After contracting sharply over the past year, economic activity appears to be levelling out, both in the United States and abroad, and the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good,' Bernanke said.Footsie had already climbed above 4,800 points for the first time since October.Insurance companies, with their huge investment portfolios, are naturally big beneficiaries of the continued market revival and they led today's advance, with Legal & General, Aviva, Prudential and Old Mutual the picks of the life assurance sector.Accounting software firm Sage was off the pace after its US rival Intuit lowered 2010 earnings guidance yesterday.Rio Tinto has received clearance from the US Federal Trade Commission on the pending sale of its Jacobs Ranch coal mine to Arch Coal. The deal is expected to close within the next six weeks. Rio announced the $761m sale of Jacobs Ranch in March.Brewer SABMiller and drinks firm Diageo are both firmer after the companies were instructed to take their dispute over East African Breweries Limited (EABL) to arbitration. The London High Court prevented EABL - 50% owned by Diageo - from terminating a partnership with SABMiller, and sent the dispute to the International Chamber of Commerce arbitration panel.Turning to the mid-cap index property website Rightmove soared after saying it remains confident of beating full-year forecasts after notching up its second highest monthly operating profit ever in July. Operating profit fell 6% in the six months ended 30 June to £18.90m and pre-tax profit by 8% to £18.19m. The results have been well received, prompting Numis Securities to upgrade the stock from 'add' to 'buy' while other brokers have indicated they will upwardly revise their earnings forecasts following the interim results.Birmingham City football club have received an offer from Grandtop, the company owned by Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung, worth £81.5m. The offer will be made on the basis of 100p per share, which is a 55% premium to last night's closing price. Stobart's trading in the first six months of the year is in line with expectations and the transport and logistics company said it is confident for the full year. It also anticipates a strong performance in the second half as a result of recently announced contracts, new business wins and action taken to reduce costs. Electrical engineering and contracting company T Clarke has reported a drop in first-half pre-tax profits after taking a £1.4m charge in relation to its restructuring programme. Silicon wafer reclaim specialist Pure Wafer, whose shares have been suspended since March due to money troubles, is raising up to £2.3m from a placing and open offer at 2p a share.Candover Investments said it is in a much stronger position than previously due to recent asset realisations and the lowering of its cost base. Drug developer SkyePharma narrowed first-half losses and said trading in the second half of 2009 is expected to remain in line with expectations.Engineering group Kentz has been awarded a telecommunications package, worth $125m, by Chevron Australia Pty Ltd for the Gorgon Project in Western Australia.Billing Services, which provides financial risk management solutions to the telecommunications industry, saw underlying profit rise for the half-year and said it was on track to meet expectations for the full year.FTSE 100 - RisersBritish Airways (BAY) 188.20p +7.24%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 77.80p +5.56%Aviva (AV.) 410.70p +5.50%Man Group (EMG) 259.90p +5.22%Friends Provident Group (FP.) 82.20p +4.31%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 775.50p +4.16%3i Group (III) 296.20p +4.00%Cairn Energy (CNE) 2,600.00p +4.00%International Power (IPR) 278.90p +3.80%Anglo American (AAL) 1,984.00p +3.60%FTSE 100 - FallersSage Group (SGE) 220.30p -2.05%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,293.00p -0.92%WPP Group (WPP) 504.50p -0.59%Serco Group (SRP) 444.50p -0.31%Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 851.50p -0.23%Reed Elsevier (REL) 432.40p -0.16%Hammerson (HMSO) 390.90p +0.03%Vodafone Group (VOD) 131.50p +0.08%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 342.20p +0.23%British Land Co (BLND) 469.90p +0.23%FTSE 250 - RisersRightmove (RMV) 508.50p +18.70%Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 345.20p +9.76%SThree (STHR) 250.50p +8.96%DS Smith (SMDS) 92.50p +8.82%Moneysupermarket.com (MONY) 80.00p +8.11%BlueBay Asset Management (BBAY) 280.60p +7.92%Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) 366.50p +5.26%Xchanging (XCH) 226.90p +5.05%888 Holdings (888) 84.00p +5.00%United Business Media (UBM) 458.90p +4.94%FTSE 250 - FallersPV Crystalox Solar (PVCS) 82.00p -3.81%Goldman Sachs Dynamic Opportunities EUR Shares (GSDE) € 1.05 -3.67%Inchcape (INCH) 29.00p -2.82%Yell Group (YELL) 38.26p -1.80%Dunelm (DNLM) 286.40p -1.58%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 164.40p -1.56%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 237.30p -1.49%RPS Group (RPS) 184.50p -1.39%Restaurant Group (RTN) 174.70p -1.30%Fidessa (FDSA) 1,098.00p -1.26%