London close: FTSE 100 rises 1% as euro fears ease

The Footsie finished strongly on Wednesday, gaining over 1%, despite a slow start for US stocks after retail sales were unchanged in August.Stocks were helped on numerous reports of governments riding to the rescue of Europe - such as the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) who are said to be pondering their role in maintaining stability.Rumours over China's intervention in the Euro crisis were still making headlines today. Caijing magazine reported that Zhang Xiaoqiang, a vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission in China, is in favour of China buying bonds issued by nations embroiled in the Eurozone debt crisis. However, the viewpoint seems to clash with the opinion voiced by China's Premier, Wen Jiabao, that "Countries must first put their own houses in order." In UK economic news, the number of people out of work rose by 80,000 in the three months to July to reach 2.51m, the biggest quarterly rise in nearly two years. "Overall, this is a worrying jobs report which indicates that the economy's persistent weakness, lower business confidence and public sector job cuts are now feeding through to take significant toll on jobs," said Howard Archer of the analysis group IHS Global Insight. Next was the highest riser of the day on the blue chip index after the clothing retail chain claimed it has put in a resilient performance in 2011 against a backdrop of rising costs, and said "retail headwinds are likely to ease as we move into 2012". Other retailers were also on the rise including Debenhams and Dixons Retail. Banks were helped Moody's Investors Service, which said that the UK 's Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) proposal to ringfence banks will not trigger any immediate ratings changes for UK banks. Lloyds and RBS were among the better performers on the FTSE 100.BP was higher after it moved to take full control of its Brazilian biofuels mills, buying the remaining half of ethanol mill owner Tropical BioEnergia and a 3% stake in sugar and ethanol producer Companhia Nacional de Açúcar e Álcool (CNAA). Heading the other way were the real estate investment trusts (REITs), after French bank Societe Generale downgraded British Land and Land Securities from hold to sell on the back of euro debt crisis worries. REIT peer Capital Shopping Centres Group was also out of favour.House building and construction group Galliford Try rose as it exceeded its profit expectations last year after putting on a spurt in the second half. Underlying profit before tax rose 34% to £35.1m from £26.1m the year before, on revenue that climbed 5% to £1,284m from £1,222m. Also in housebuilding Barratt Developments returned to profit (before exceptional costs) for the full year with a pre-tax return of £42.7m, versus a loss of £33.0m the year before. For the first 11 weeks of the current financial year, the house builder's average net private reservations totalled 183 per week, 10.2% above the same period last year. Film and TV content distributor Entertainment One, which owns the franchise for the cartoon character Peppa Pig, was a big mover after confirming speculation that it is considering being bought. Shares jumped nearly 20%.BCFTSE 100 - RisersNext (NXT) 2,483.00p +6.34%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,047.00p +6.13%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,367.00p +5.64%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 33.50p +5.25%ITV (ITV) 56.35p +5.13%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 154.00p +5.12%GKN (GKN) 183.60p +4.91%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 22.80p +4.20%Carnival (CCL) 2,060.00p +3.73%BP (BP.) 395.10p +3.54%FTSE 100 - FallersImperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,012.00p -2.04%Land Securities Group (LAND) 658.00p -1.79%Lonmin (LMI) 1,161.00p -1.61%British Land Co (BLND) 494.00p -1.50%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,325.50p -1.01%Serco Group (SRP) 492.30p -0.71%Aggreko (AGK) 1,800.00p -0.66%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 454.30p -0.66%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,935.00p -0.50%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,530.00p -0.48%