THE London market rose for the second session in a row yesterday as Barclays led a series of blue-chip firms reporting strong corporate results.
The top flight lifted by another 75.7 points to 6631, adding to Tuesday's 50 point rise as it fought back from a run of losses after recent heavy falls in Asian markets on fears of China's economic slowdown.
In London, a number of well-received interims from the likes of Barclays, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Sky helped the market move higher.
The pound rose a cent against the euro to just under 1.41, after Greece's prime minister Alexis Tsipras warned he may call a snap election to defeat rebels in his party, delaying its €85 billion (£60bn) bailout talks with its creditors.
Sterling was little changed against the US dollar at 1.56, ahead of the latest statement from the US Federal Reserve late last night, which will be watched for clues on the timing of an interest rate hike.
Barclays rose almost 2 per cent or 5p to 284.6p as it kicked off half-year results from the major high street lenders with a 25 per cent rise in first half profits to £3.11bn, despite a hit of more than £1bn during the period to compensate customers over scandals such as payment protection insurance mis-selling.
The group cheered a robust performance from its investment banking arm, which saw earnings increase by 36 per cent to £1.44bn in the first half as costs were squeezed.
Chairman John McFarlane, who has taken over day-to-day running at the bank after boss Antony Jenkins was sacked, also pledged to "accelerate earnings growth".
Sky was also in the spotlight after posting a £1.4bn operating profit haul for the first half.
The pay TV provider rose 8p to 1132p after posting an 18 per cent rise in earnings and as it hailed its best UK customer growth for more than a decade.
Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarette maker BAT was another strong riser in the top tier, ahead by 129p to 3608.5p, after its half-year results were better than expected.
Cost savings helped offset a currency hit, although revenues were also sent lower – down 5.9 per cent to £6.4bn – due to dwindling numbers of smokers.
BAT's profits fell 6per cent to £2.5bn, but increased by 1.3 per cent with currency movements stripped out.
Rival Imperial Tobacco also benefited in the FTSE 100, rising 79p to 3365p.
Elsewhere, property-related stocks were in sharp focus following interim figures from website Rightmove and estate agency Foxtons.
Rightmove rose more than 5 per cent or 184p to 3574p after operating profits lifted 18 per cent to £70.3 million as it benefited at the expense of rival Zoopla amid new competition in the online property market.
Zoopla shed 3.1p to 243.2p.
The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 Index were Hikma Pharmaceuticals up 86p at 2407p, British American Tobacco up 129p at 3608.5p, GlaxoSmithKline up 46p at 1374.5p and Fresnillo up 16p at 646p.
The biggest fallers in the FTSE 100 Index were Compass down 58p at 1028p, Smiths Group down 17p at 1123p, Capita down 15p at 1271p and Sage down 5.5p at 514.5p.
