A flurry of U.S. economic data and a rebound in metals prices helped push Britain"s top share index to a higher close on Wednesday, with Compass Group topping the blue-chip gainers list after results, according to Reuters. The FTSE 100 ended up 40.85 points, or 0.8 percent at 5,364.81, following a 0.6 percent decline on Tuesday. Miners added the most points to the index with Randgold Resources among the biggest blue-chip gainers, up 3 percent, after the price of gold hit a record high and prices of key base metals advanced. Also featuring on the FTSE 100 leader board were Lonmin, BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Antofagasta, which added 2.5 to 3.2 percent. "Recently any pullback has been met by further buying, so the momentum is still in favour of the bulls," said Angus Campbell, head of sales at Capital Spreads. "We"re in a bullish time of year. Out of the last 10 years, on eight occasions the market has risen in the run-up to Thanksgiving (on Thursday), and then after Thanksgiving, on average there"ve been more rises than falls." The FTSE has surged 55 percent since hitting a low in March, and gains so far in November have put the index on track to post its best monthly performance since August. U.S. consumer spending rose more than expected in October, while new applications for U.S. jobless aid last week fell to their lowest level in more than a year, suggesting the U.S. economic recovery is gaining traction. But an unexpected decline in orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods tempered some of the optimism. Pharmaceuticals, seen as resistant to a weak economy, were higher. AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Shire added 1.4 to 2.5 percent. As crude prices gained by more than 1 percent, energy stocks found favour. BP and BG Group put on 0.5 and 1.3 percent, respectively. Royal Dutch Shell climbed 0.4 percent. Its chief executive forecast that the oil giant will not need to borrow any more money if oil remains at about $80 a barrel, the Financial Times reported. COMPASS LEADS THE WAY Compass, the world"s top caterer, showed its recession-proof credentials, posting a 33 percent profit rise which topped market expectations and propelled its shares to a seven-year high, up 6.1 percent. International Power gained 2.5 percent, with traders citing renewed speculation of M&A activity after the Daily Mail said GDF Suez was a possible bidder for the British power generation firm. On the downside, hedge fund Man Group shed 4.9 percent, the biggest faller on the index, in a further reaction to Tuesday"s rating downgrade by Credit Suisse and with the stock trading ex-dividend on Wednesday. Ex-dividend factors knocked 1.01 points off the blue chip index, with Amec and Next also losing their dividend attractions. Platinum refiner Johnson Matthey was another significant faller, off 3.9 percent after posting a 21-percent drop in first-half pretax profit due to lower precious metal prices and a slowdown in automobile sales.. London Stock Exchange was on the back foot after it posted results, falling 3.8 percent. Earlier, data showed that Britain"s economy shrank 0.3 percent in the third quarter, from a previous reading of 0.4 percent, and most analysts expect a return to growth before the end of the year.
