London close: Shares applaud Mubarak exit

Shares rallied sharply in the afternoon following strong confidence figures from the US, but it was the announcement that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is stepping down that really stirred up excitement.One stock in particular reacted strongly to the announcement. Shares in gold miner Centamin Egypt had been in the doldrums following last night's damp squib when Mubarak said he was staying put, but were up more than 5% at the close of trading.Turning to more mundane matters, it was the US confidence figures that really sparked shares into life here though. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment for February climbed to 75.1 from 74.2 in January.Insurer Legal & General (L&G) was in demand on the back of a positive broker note from Nomura Securities. "We highlight our preference for L&G over Prudential (Reduce), given that we expect Pru to go ex-growth in the US this year," the Japanese broker said."We have raised our price target by 14% to 171p to reflect our increasingly optimistic view of L&G's growth prospects, and raised our earnings forecasts by 7% for 2010 and by 11% for 2011. Our dividend for 2010 is raised by 3% to 5.19p," Nomura said.Elsewhere in the financial sector Barclays was laid low by a "sell" recommendation from Evolution Securities ahead of the banking giant's results next week. Marks & Spencer and fellow fashion retailer Next were under pressure, with the rise in cotton prices to a new high adding to their woes. Online delivery service Ocado has tumbled after it confirmed that the department store John Lewis's pension fund, an 11% shareholder, has sold its stake now that the lock-up period following last July's float has ended. Shares in Ocado had risen 50% over the last month prior to the John Lewis sell-off. Cairn Energy moved higher after it pledged to shareholders it will not put up with any interference from the Indian government in the $9.6bn sale of its oilfields in Rajasthan to Vedanta.Support services group Carillion has agreed to pay £306.5m for green support services business Eaga. In a deal recommended by Eaga bosses, shareholders will get 118.79p a share in cash and receive the 1.21p interim dividend, taking the total to 120p.Emergency repair service provider Homeserve is still predicting a year of strong growth with profit matching City expectations. Customer and policy numbers were both 14% higher at the end of 2010 than at the same time the previous year, up to 4.8m and 10.9m respectively. Pubs group Mitchells and Butlers has named senior independent director Simon Burke as its new chairman, taking over from John Lovering who steps down today. Burke has been on the board as non-executive deputy chairman since January 2010. He's also chairman of HobbyCraft and a non-executive director of the BBC Executive Board. Shaftesbury, the property company focused on London's theatre-land district, said demand for its properties has remained healthy since the end of September. Investment activity in the area is on the up and is predicted to increase over the next 12 months. A sharp rise in pre-tax profits in the half year to 30 November sent shares in Fiske higher, even as the stockbroker warned that 2011 will be "difficult."Pre-tax profits jumped to £369,000 from £286,000 over the same period the previous year on revenues that rose to £2.23m from £2.04m.Struggling sportswear group JJB Sports has warned it could go bust unless landlords agree to cut rents on 95 stores it has earmarked for possible closure. JJB's plan comes just two years after it did a similar deal, called a company voluntary agreement or CVA, on 140 stores.Shares in Renovo lost nearly three-quarters of their value after the scar treatments developer admitted that its main treatment Juvista has failed to meet its goals in the phase III trial in Europe.Real estate investment trust McKay Securities has received an uplift of 32p in net asset value per share from favourable movements in long term swap rates.FTSE 100 - RisersTullow Oil (TLW) 1,452.00p +3.79%Lonmin (LMI) 1,845.00p +3.77%BG Group (BG.) 1,524.00p +3.50%Anglo American (AAL) 3,421.50p +3.42%International Power (IPR) 339.40p +3.41%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 122.70p +3.28%Centrica (CNA) 344.60p +3.24%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 273.00p +2.86%SABMiller (SAB) 2,144.00p +2.81%Cairn Energy (CNE) 419.10p +2.72%FTSE 100 - FallersNext (NXT) 2,000.00p -3.05%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,407.00p -1.40%ICAP (IAP) 541.00p -1.19%Serco Group (SRP) 551.00p -1.08%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,374.00p -1.08%Schroders (SDR) 1,802.00p -1.04%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 368.00p -0.97%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,176.00p -0.93%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 752.50p -0.86%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 249.00p -0.80%FTSE 250 - RisersCentamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 149.00p +6.43%Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 296.10p +4.63%JPMorgan Indian Inv Trust (JII) 410.20p +4.09%SDL (SDL) 656.50p +4.04%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 1,700.00p +3.98%AG Barr (BAG) 1,126.00p +3.78%Berkeley Group Holdings (BKG) 980.00p +3.54%BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 807.00p +3.33%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 416.40p +3.33%John Wood Group (WG.) 572.50p +3.25%FTSE 250 - FallersOcado Group (OCDO) 255.00p -10.53%Exillon Energy (EXI) 340.50p -3.27%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 86.50p -2.86%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 349.50p -2.65%Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 523.50p -2.60%Supergroup (SGP) 1,773.00p -2.58%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 46.20p -2.49%Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) 568.00p -2.07%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 274.30p -2.00%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 311.00p -1.99%