London close: Retailers lift Footsie higher

While the Footsie came off its daily highs, it still managed to post a gain of close to 1% as strong results from ASOS boosted the retail sector higher. Meanwhile, stocks were recovering from the 89 point sell-off yesterday, its worst one-day fall since mid-March. Strong growth overseas helped the internet fashion retailer ASOS maintain its upward momentum in the fourth quarter. The firm, which sells clothes inspired by trendy celebrities (the name stands for 'As Seen on Screen') saw year-on-year sales growth of 70% during the quarter, with UK's revenues up 24% to £44.9m and the international division's soaring by 161% to £48.4m.Next was posting gains on the blue chip index, while Debenhams, Supergroup and Carpetright finished higher on the FTSE 250. Investors are awaiting tomorrow's half year results from Debenhams and a trading update from Dunelm.Bucking the sector trend was teen outfitter JD Sports Fashion which hiked its dividend by about 30% after reporting a sharp rise in profits but said it is "extremely cautious" on the outlook. The sports-themed fashion retailer posted a pre-tax profit of £78.6m in the year to 29 January, up from £61.4m the previous year, on revenues that rose to £883.7m from £769.8m. The full-year dividend is upped to 23p from 18p. Banks also finished higher, helped by US lending giant JP Morgan who reported a 67% jump in net profit for the first three months of the year. HSBC, Lloyds and RBS were firmer.Mexican miner Fresnillo's silver production slipped slightly in the quarter to 31 March, but expanded capacity at its Soledad-Dipolos mine helped lift gold production by 13.3% to 96,407 ounces. Fresnillo's chief executive Jaime Lomelin said the company is on track to produce 44m ounces of silver over 2011. Elsewhere in mining, Rio Tinto said first quarter production in Australia was hit by the extreme weather in the region but most of its operations are now recovering and benefiting from strong prices. Global iron ore production of 42m tonnes attributable was down 3% on the first quarter of 2010 and down 16% on the fourth quarter of 2010. Operations in the Pilbara were disrupted by three tropical cyclones and widespread flooding. Chip designer ARM Holdings was the best performing blue chip today, helped by some positive comment from the broker ING, which expects ARM to meet its guidance. Household products giant Reckitt Benckiser was also a big mover, boosted by JP Morgan who upped its earnings per share estimates by 3% saying that a current weak share price provides a good buying opportunity.Oil and gas firm Tullow Oil has had another success off the coast of Ghana, with the Tweneboa-4 appraisal well in the Deepwater Tano licence encountering gas condensate in good quality sandstone reservoirs. The company added that it is resuming its exploration and appraisal campaign in Uganda. The company expects to have a five-rig drill-out campaign on the go in the second half of this year. Design and engineering consultancy WS Atkins said it expects full year results to be ahead of market expectations after a strong performance at its Middle East business. The group, which is the official engineering design services provider for the London 2012 Games, said overall it had traded well through the fourth quarter. Its UK business continues to perform in line with expectations despite challenging market conditions. Smaller gold miners are also in focus today. Shares in Ireland's Conroy Gold were shining after it reported positive results from a drilling programme at its Clontibret gold project. "The drill hole intersected 1.25 metres of 2.29 g/t gold from 84 metres and 10.15 metres of 4.38 g/t from 132.4 metres including 2 metres at 11.24 g/t and 1.4 metres at 7.92 g/t," the company said. But Condor Resources was on the descent on Wednesday after releasing a mineral resource estimate for its La India and Espinito concessions in Nicaragua.---bc