Member Article

Admiral Group leads FTSE 100 higher

The major US indices of the Dow Jones and S&P finished down more than 1.5%, representing the biggest falls seen this year. Europe opened roughly flat following the dramatic falls, particularly in France and Germany that were experienced yesterday.

In a key week for Greece and its creditors, the Greek government said yesterday that the restructuring offer on the table (resulting in a loss of around 70% in net present value terms for bondholders) is the best that lenders were going to get, highlighting its willingness to use the collective active clauses should the 90% participation rate not be reached. Whilst many large institutions have agreed to the debt swap, many are holding out and have until tomorrow evening to make their decision.

The FTSE 100 had a relatively quiet day, opening up broadly flat but managing to post a 0.44% gain by the end of the day, closing at 5791.4. It was unsurprising that on a sector basis, those leading the index higher were the beaten down mining and banking stocks from the previous day. Admiral Group was top of the index however as the insurer issued 2011 earnings results ahead of expectations. The more insurance focused company put on exactly 10% to finish at 1144p.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by James .