The Dow Jones Industrials finished up 72 today at 12,233 and the FTSE 100 closed up 40 at 6,091 after a sluggish start.
The poor start on the FTSE was triggered by news that the Chinese central bank raised its one year lending rate to 6.06pc from 5.81pc and the deposit rate to 3pc from 2.75pc. It was the third increase in interest rates since October. Sentiment was not helped by the additional £800 million of bank levy announced by Chancellor, George Osborne, this morning.
But good results from miner Xstrata soon overcame any negative fallout from the Chinese news. It announced revenue increased from $22.7billion ito $30.5 billion between 2009 and 2010 and profit before tax rose to $7.11bn in 2010, excluding exceptional items, from $1.87bn, as a result of increasing prices, production and the benefits of restructuring. Net debt fell 38% to $7.6bn. The shares rose 1.7% to £14.92.
The poor start on the FTSE was triggered by news that the Chinese central bank raised its one year lending rate to 6.06pc from 5.81pc and the deposit rate to 3pc from 2.75pc. It was the third increase in interest rates since October. Sentiment was not helped by the additional £800 million of bank levy announced by Chancellor, George Osborne, this morning.
But good results from miner Xstrata soon overcame any negative fallout from the Chinese news. It announced revenue increased from $22.7billion ito $30.5 billion between 2009 and 2010 and profit before tax rose to $7.11bn in 2010, excluding exceptional items, from $1.87bn, as a result of increasing prices, production and the benefits of restructuring. Net debt fell 38% to $7.6bn. The shares rose 1.7% to £14.92.
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