London close: Results drive stocks higher, Man up after upgrade

Stocks finished with good gains after an uncertain start, with strong economic data from the US overriding the earlier mixed reception to today's raft of company updates.US orders for goods made to last more than three years, such as planes, cars and washing machines, rose by 4% in July, having fallen by 1.3% the previous month.It was Man Group that led the risers in the FTSE 100 after HSBC has lifted its recommnendation on the hedge fund manager to "overweight" from "underweight", citing strong management fees. Here, investors in Admiral were feeling mutinous despite pre-tax profits growing by 27%. However, according to a Thomson Reuters poll, the result was a slight miss.Miner BHP Billiton climbed after seeing a 35.9% jump in revenue in the year ended June. The final dividend was upped by 22%.Outsourcing firm Serco fell despite saying it overcame UK and US headwinds to deliver a 12.2% rise in adjusted pre-tax profit, driven by its international portfolio. Advertising and marketing group WPP, led by chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell, rose after saying the "post-Lehman bounce-back" has continued as it posted pre-tax profit growth of 37% on sales that grew 6.1% in the six months to 30 June.Africa-focused oil giant Tullow Oil was firmer after it reported a huge surge in sales and profits in the six months ended 30 June, helped by increased production from the Jubilee field off Ghana and higher commodity prices.Tesco was edging higher after an announcement that Andrew Higginson, chief executive of Retailing Services at the supermarket giant, is heading for the check-out counter next year.The economic divide between London and the rest of the UK appears even to extend to the student accommodation sector, judging by Unite Group's half year results. The shares are sharply higher after it said that in the six months to 30 June, the company's diluted net asset value climbed to 310p a share from 295p at the beginning of the year. The value of the group's stabilised property portfolio grew by 2.1%, with rental growth in the first six months delivering £15m of net valuation uplift. Speciality plastic and fibre products supplier Filtrona said it well placed for further growth despite economic uncertainty as it posted a rise in revenues and profits. In the six months to 30 June, revenue jumped to £268.6m from £247.6m over the same period the previous year, while pre-tax profits rose to £39.5m from £34.6m. The dividend was raised by 10% to 3.3p from 3p. Profits at British building firm Carillion were up 10% in the first half of the year, reaching £72.5m. However, including one-off acquisition costs of £28m the company saw profits drop by 35%. Chairman, Philip Rogerson, said the builder expected to deliver full-year earnings growth in line with market expectations. FTSE 100 - RisersMan Group (EMG) 216.10p +10.20%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 21.87p +9.35%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,026.00p +8.40%WPP (WPP) 623.00p +7.41%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 30.11p +6.40%Glencore International (GLEN) 389.60p +6.03%Xstrata (XTA) 986.50p +5.15%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 100.30p +5.08%Carnival (CCL) 1,816.00p +3.77%BT Group (BT.A) 168.90p +3.75%FTSE 100 - FallersAdmiral Group (ADM) 1,353.00p -11.86%Serco Group (SRP) 511.00p -3.95%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,410.00p -3.46%Essar Energy (ESSR) 251.60p -1.53%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,045.00p -1.11%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,872.00p -1.06%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 425.40p -0.98%Land Securities Group (LAND) 736.00p -0.67%Amec (AMEC) 915.50p -0.54%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,269.00p -0.52%FTSE 250 - RisersPace (PIC) 104.10p +10.22%Filtrona PLC (FLTR) 337.30p +7.11%Unite Group (UTG) 163.40p +6.87%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 225.30p +5.08%Croda International (CRDA) 1,738.00p +4.83%SIG (SHI) 106.50p +4.51%JPMorgan American Inv Trust (JAM) 754.00p +4.50%Computacenter (CCC) 379.00p +4.47%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 328.00p +4.46%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 239.30p +4.41%FTSE 250 - FallersPremier Foods (PFD) 13.00p -5.93%Amlin (AML) 295.00p -4.35%William Hill (WMH) 209.90p -4.20%Atkins (WS) (ATK) 523.50p -2.97%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 534.50p -2.64%Charter International (CHTR) 728.00p -2.54%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 38.29p -2.40%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 137.80p -1.92%Ladbrokes (LAD) 122.30p -1.53%Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) 380.90p -1.50%