London close: Stocks in late surge

A late rally driven by early gains in the US had London back up at session highs, with gains among financial plays easily offsetting a weaker property sector.Investors overcame disappointing US housing starts data that had the blue chip index struggling at session lows mid-afternoon. The annual rate of housing starts fell to 581,000 in July from 587,000 a month earlier. Analysts wanted 598,000.Over here, HSBC strengthened on positive comment from US bank Goldman Sachs. It reckons that HSBC Finance will stop being a major drag on HSBC's earnings from 2010 onwards, earlier than previously expected. Goldman upgraded the shares to 'buy' from 'neutral' and raised its price target from 580p to 820p. It also lifted its target on Standard Chartered.Insurers were also largely better, helped by ongoing speculative interest. Legal & General did well just a week after Resolution launched a recommended bid for Friends Provident.Miners eked out gains as well. Xstrata and BHP Billiton improved, as did cash strapped Rio Tinto which has received a $2.025bn offer for the majority of its Alcan Packaging business. But British Land's results disappointed and cast a shadow over the real estate sector. The owner of the Broadgate development in London's financial district saw the value of its property portfolio fall to £8.18bn in the first quarter, although the pace of decline has slowed markedly. Land Securities and Liberty International were little changed.Elsewhere, a joint venture including support services firm Carillion has won a 'Building Schools for the Future' contract for Durham. The market has given the thumbs up to James Fisher's acquisition of MB Faber, which provides specialist electrical and engineering services to the nuclear and aerospace industries, for up to £5.25m in cash.Car dealer Pendragon reported sharply lower profits in the six months to June 30 as recession-hit motorists held onto their old cars rather than splashing out on new ones. Respiratory inhaler firm Vectura remains "very confident" about prospects with important drug trials due to start later this year and plenty of cash in the bank.Online video services provider Amino Technologies posted an operating loss compared with a profit the same time a year before as challenging economic conditions continued hit the group. Nightclub owner Luminar can breathe a little easier on news that 95.5% of the shares available through an open offer have been taken up and buyers have been found for the remainder.Chip designer Arc International is recommending a £25.2m cash bid from US semiconductor intellectual property firm Virage Logic.The slump in construction activity hit property repair and maintenance company Rok hard in the first half of 2009, but the company is confident of meeting full year expectations, provided market conditions do not deteriorate further.Australian alternative energy developer Ceramic Fuel Cells revealed widening annual losses after it booked significant impairment charges related to losses on financial investments.US navigation equipment specialist Garmin said any offer it makes for marine electronics group Raymarine is likely to be solely in cash. Yesterday, Raymarine confirmed recent press speculation that it is in potential takeover talks with US navigation equipment specialist Garmin and with other parties.Thirdforce said it has received a revised proposal from management buy-out vehicle LearnVantage. The UK E-learning software group said the proposal may or may not lead to an offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the company. FTSE 100 - RisersAmec (AMEC) 744.50p +4.42%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 70.00p +4.17%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 725.50p +3.50%Rexam (REX) 259.30p +2.90%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 46.18p +2.87%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 656.00p +2.82%Compass Group (CPG) 318.70p +2.81%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,075.00p +2.48%Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 777.00p +2.44%Xstrata (XTA) 758.00p +2.16%FTSE 100 - FallersBritish Land Co (BLND) 483.00p -2.66%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,690.00p -1.80%Invensys (ISYS) 248.50p -1.62%Petrofac Ltd (PFC) 873.00p -1.02%Sage Group (SGE) 210.10p -0.76%Reed Elsevier (REL) 423.60p -0.54%Home Retail Group (HOME) 296.50p -0.50%Inmarsat (ISAT) 501.50p -0.50%Tesco (TSCO) 363.60p -0.47%Land Securities Group (LAND) 607.50p -0.41%FTSE 250 - RisersFisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 497.60p +8.15%Dimension Data Holdings (DDT) 59.45p +8.09%Ashtead Group (AHT) 72.40p +5.93%Salamander Energy (SMDR) 207.00p +5.72%Fidessa (FDSA) 1,110.00p +5.71%Inchcape (INCH) 29.63p +4.88%SVG Capital (SVI) 130.10p +4.75%GKN (GKN) 115.10p +4.45%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 154.60p +4.39%Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 319.00p +4.25%FTSE 250 - FallersBarratt Developments (BDEV) 218.40p -3.53%Greggs (GRG) 399.80p -2.73%Synergy Healthcare (SYR) 523.00p -2.43%Bodycote (BOY) 155.80p -1.58%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 261.40p -1.54%Helical Bar (HLCL) 351.10p -1.54%DSG International (DSGI) 28.08p -1.51%VT Group (VTG) 483.80p -1.49%Hays (HAS) 99.80p -1.48%TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 148.00p -1.33%