London close: Shares soar on Libya deal hopes

Reports that the Libyan situation might be resolved through mediation rather than violence sent UK shares sharply higher.The Arab League is said to be considering a proposal to end the fighting in Libya sending oil prices higher. Heavy oil users such as airline International Consolidated Airlines and cruise operator Carrnival react positively to the oil price fall.The European Central Bank (ECB) kept key lending rates unchanged for the 22nd month running, but indicated that it could lift rates in April to contain inflationary pressures in the eurozone. The interest rate on its main refinancing operations stayed at 1%, as expected, but ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet did show concern on rising food and commodity pricesEngineering and project management company Amec enjoyed a spell at the top of the Footsie leaderboard, as it shrugged off any worries of a double-dip recession by saying it expects to grow regardless of the pace of economic recovery. Pre-tax profits in 2010 soared to £258.2m from £203.5m the previous year as revenues grew to £2.95bn from £2.54bn. Fellow engineer IMI is also on investors' shopping lists after an increase in demand and cost cutting helped the company grow full-year profits by 44% to a new record, though the search for a new chairman goes on. Profit from continuing operations before tax and exceptional items rose to £304.4m from £211.7m in 2009.Insurer Aviva ramped up profits by 35% in 2010, helped by cost cutting, and had a record year in the UK. The firm, which has 19m customers in Britain, posted a profit before tax of £2.44bn, up from £1.81bn in 2009. Operating earnings jumped 26% to £2.55bn. Oil and gas firm Tullow Oil hailed an "exceptional result" on its drilling of the Enyenra-2A appraisal well, in the Deepwater Tano licence offshore Ghana. Drilling successfully encountered oil in excellent quality sandstone reservoirs, with solid evidence of communication with the Owo-1 well, which confirms that the Owo oil discovery, now renamed Enyenra, is a major light oil field. The government has agreed to let Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp, the publisher of the Times and Sun, buy satellite broadcaster BSKyB in a deal that will see Sky News placed under independent control."While News Corporation continues to believe that the proposed acquisition of the shares in BSkyB that it does not already own will not result in insufficient plurality for any audience in the UK, it has submitted this comprehensive proposal in order to avoid a lengthy and costly review by the Competition Commission," News Corp said, as it welcomed the announcement.Full year earnings for mining giant Kazakhmys were a little higher than expected as the price of copper raced higher in 2010. Stripping out any contribution from the group's 26% stake in fellow Kazakh resources firm ENRC, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation totalled $1.93bn, up 59.5% from $1.21bn the year before.Defence firm Cobham's profits in 2010 were hurt by delays in orders in the US and the company sees continuing difficulties this year as the world's only superpower seeks to rein in spending following the financial crisis. Statutory pre-tax profits in the year to 31 December fell to £189m from £245m on revenues that edged up to £1.8bn from £1.75bn. The profits slide did not stop the shares outperforming the rest of the FTSE 250, however.Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey returned to profit in 2010 and has made a positive start to the current year with prices up in some places. The firm made a profit before tax and one-off items of £75.1m compared with a £96.1m loss in 2009 on revenue up a fraction at £2.6bn despite total completions falling from 15,166 to 14,272. Identity theft and credit card insurer CPP celebrated a strong first year as a public company, with profits increasing by a third. Underlying profit before tax in 2010 rose 33% to £46.7m from £35.2m the year before on revenue that rose 12% to £325.8m from £292.1m in 2009. Telecoms testing group Spirent reported a 32% rise in 2010 pre-tax profit, increased its dividend and said it is confident of further growth in 2011. The company, which tests the performance of IT and communications systems, said pre-tax profit for the year rose to $112.2m compare with $84.9m in 2009. Revenue was up 13% at $482.2m. Newspaper group Trinity Mirror has taken a dive. It held back from reinstating its dividend despite a big jump in profits as it slashed costs to cope with the tough times the newspaper industry is facing. The publisher of the Mirror and a host of local titles said pre-tax profits in 2010 were up to £101.5m from £72.7m the previous year, even as revenues slipped to £761.5m from £763.3m. Some analysts had been expecting a slight rise in revenues.Online gaming operator Partygaming has been bid up, after it announced a rise in "clean" earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to £100.4m in 2010 from £93.2m the year before, despite the continued loss of appetite among punters for online poker.Marketing services provider Communisis reported 2010 operating profit in line with expectations but there were additional amortisation costs relating to the refinancing of debt.Shares in information technology services firm Parity were below par after the company's full year results disappointed. Revenues in 2010 slumped to £93.0m from £119.0m the year before, while the group suffered a loss before tax and exceptional items of £3.1m, compared to a profit of £0.3m the year before. Canamens BNG is not making the final $11.98m payment to AIM-quoted oil and gas explorer Roxi Petroleum for the purchase of BNG Ltd, which has a stake in exploration interests in Kazakhstan. Canamens will forfeit a 6.25% interest in the BNG contract area to Roxi as a result.JJB Sports is offering its landlords as much as £7.5m if they agree to a series of proposals that might save the hard-up sports retailer from going bust. Under the terms of a proposed company voluntary arrangement (CVA), 43 stores will shut by 24 April 2012, while a further 46 shops could close during the following year if their performance doesn't improve.FTSE 100 - RisersIMI (IMI) 943.00p +6.55%Amec (AMEC) 1,190.00p +5.40%TUI Travel (TT.) 241.80p +4.63%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,770.00p +4.00%FTSE 100 - FallersAutonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,657.00p -1.02%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 577.50p -0.77%Investec (INVP) 466.10p -0.75%Standard Life (SL.) 230.80p -0.73%FTSE 250 - RisersPartyGaming (PRTY) 191.00p +9.14%Cobham (COB) 224.60p +7.52%Inchcape (INCH) 403.00p +5.22%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 41.00p +5.13%FTSE 250 - FallersHansen Transmissions International NV (DI) (HSN) 39.06p -7.51%Home Retail Group (HOME) 208.10p -3.52%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 301.00p -3.40%Marston's (MARS) 93.70p -3.35%