London close: Macro data sees stocks surge

- Footsie at intraday high by the close- Economic data from Eurozone and US boost buying- Banks and miners lead risers in LondonLondon's FTSE 100 index surged by nearly two per cent on Tuesday, as upbeat economic data from the Eurozone and US provided a spark in the banking and mining sectors. Meanwhile, some better-than-expected first-quarter results from American heavyweights Coca-Cola and Goldman Sachs also lifted sentiment.Spain issued €3.18bn in short-term government bonds this morning and while yields rose as expected, the issuance was higher than the €2-3bn target range and demand for both 12- and 18-month notes was strong. After having surged beyond 6% yesterday, the yield on 10-year Spanish bonds had dropped 18.1 basis point to 5.889% by the close in Europe.Elsewhere in the Eurozone, despite consensus expectations of a fall in the ZEW German economic sentiment index to 19, the survey improved to 23.4 in April from 22.3 the month before. Analyst Thomas Harjes from Barclays Capital said that the recent weakness in Germany's financial market has been down to a "technical correction" and broader euro worries "rather than weaker fundamentals of the German economy."In other news, Eurostat revealed that consumer prices rose 2.7% year-on-year in March, higher than the initial reading of a 2.6% increase."These figures are a good indication that investors are optimistic about the direction of the Eurozone despite the current issues in Spain and Italy, and with CPI coming in slightly above expected at 2.7%, the door is left wide open for more monetary stimulus from the ECB," said market analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari. Meanwhile, US benchmarks opened strongly on Wall Street after new housing permits rose to their highest level since September 2008, despite expectations of a slight decline. Investors seemed to shrug off some weaker-than-anticipated industrial production data. FTSE 100: Risk-on as banks & miners surgeInvestors shifted their weighting into the banking and mining sectors today as improving data from the Eurozone temporarily eased concerns about the ongoing debt crisis. Mining peers Antofagasta, Anglo American and Vedanta Resources finished strongly, closely followed by ENRC after it announced the completion of the acquisition of thermal coal group Shubarkol Komir JSC, which is expected to enhance the company's position as a leading coal producer in Kazakhstan. Rio Tinto also rose despite saying that production of copper and iron ore fell in the first quarter of 2012 compared with the final three months of last year. Meanwhile, banking groups Barclays, Lloyds and RBS were in demand with Barclays leading the charge after Bank of America Merrill Lynch suggested the broking community could be about to up their earnings forecast for the firm. "With Eurozone fears hitting the shares recently, we think the first-quarter results could re-focus investors to the fundamental attractions," the US broker reckons. There were only a handful of stocks registering losses by the close, with luxury group Burberry and High Street retailer Marks & Spencer strongly out of favour. Burberry dropped nearly 6% after underlying revenue growth eased in the fourth quarter owing to a slowdown in growth at its Wholesale division. Meanwhile, M&S saw like-for-like sales in the UK fall by a worse-than-expected 0.7% in the first quarter.Mobile phone networks giant Vodafone has cranked up its dispute with the Indian government by serving notice that it is prepared to go to international arbitration over India's plans to introduce a retrospective tax law which will hit the UK-based company hard. Shares were up over 1%. FTSE 250: Afren jumps on 'potentially transformational' oil discovery Afren thinks it might have struck it big in the Kurdistan region of Iraq with its Simrit-2 exploration well. "The scale of the oil column that has been intersected suggests that the Simrit structure and surrounding prospects elsewhere on the Ain Sifni PSC have the potential to be transformational for Afren", said Osman Shahenshah, Chief Executive. Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said that advertising at Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mail, has fallen 3% in the six months to the end of March. FTSE 100 - RisersAntofagasta (ANTO) 1,176.00p +5.00%Barclays (BARC) 220.55p +4.63%Anglo American (AAL) 2,328.50p +4.53%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,214.00p +4.48%Amec (AMEC) 1,118.00p +4.39%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 30.95p +4.17%ITV (ITV) 88.10p +3.89%GKN (GKN) 211.50p +3.83%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 25.20p +3.83%CRH (CRH) 1,279.00p +3.73%FTSE 100 - FallersBurberry Group (BRBY) 1,492.00p -5.93%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 358.70p -2.45%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,447.00p -1.25%Sage Group (SGE) 283.20p -1.12%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,490.00p -1.08%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,127.00p -0.70%Centrica (CNA) 318.00p -0.25%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 387.10p -0.15%FTSE 250 - RisersHeritage Oil (HOIL) 146.50p +7.56%Afren (AFR) 143.00p +6.32%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 137.40p +6.10%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 532.50p +5.34%Hays (HAS) 92.50p +4.99%Exillon Energy (EXI) 130.00p +4.84%Lonmin (LMI) 1,030.00p +4.83%Cape (CIU) 384.80p +4.57%Logica (LOG) 82.05p +4.39%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 426.20p +4.33%FTSE 250 - FallersDaily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) 423.80p -4.68%AG Barr (BAG) 1,145.00p -3.21%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 324.00p -2.96%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 30.07p -2.05%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 1,560.00p -1.89%Synergy Health (SYR) 830.50p -1.60%Spirent Communications (SPT) 164.50p -1.56%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 36.13p -1.55%Savills (SVS) 349.70p -1.47%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 49.15p -1.46%BC