Commodities and banks lift FTSE

Commodity stocks and banks helped drive Britain's top share index to a higher close on Tuesday, as investors shifted their focus from political unrest in Egypt to upbeat US economic data. The FTSE 100 index closed up 94.88 points, or 1.6 percent, at 5,957.82, recouping nearly all the 1.7 percent lost over the previous two sessions on the fallout from Egypt.
The mood was brightened after data showed that the US manufacturing sector expanded in January at its fastest pace since May 2004, and that prices paid jumped more than expected. Buyers came in for miners after copper hit a record high, helped by the strong US data and a backdrop of constrained supply.
Copper miners Kazakhmys and Antofagasta were among the top blue chip risers, up 4.8 and 4.7 percent. At least one million people rallied across Egypt on Tuesday clamouring for President Hosni Mubarak to give up power. "The first (market) reaction (to such situations) is naturally caution. It then takes 24/48 hours (for proper analysis) and I think having come through that exercise, the market has become 'comfortable' the impact won't necessarily be too bad," Paul Kavanagh, a partner at Killik & Co, said. Energy stocks were in demand as oil hovered around $101 per barrel on Tuesday, after a rally on Monday supported by port disruptions in Egypt, a weakening dollar and concerns about the growing social unrest in north Africa.
BP rebounded 1.3 percent. Traders said its share price fall earlier in the session, in reaction to the oil company's below-forecast profit, was overdone. Investors shrugged off a UK court injunction halting BP's planned Arctic exploration partnership with Rosneft, Russia's state oil group.
Technology stocks were hot picks among investors, with Autonomy up 6.3 percent after the enterprise search software maker reported fourth-quarter results which analysts said should provide near-term support for the shares. ARM Holdings rose 6.1 percent after the British chip designer's fourth-quarter results beat expectations, leading Numis Securities to raise its target price.
Risk-sensitive banks firmed, with Standard Chartered up 2.8 percent, helped by Exane BNP Paribas upgrading its rating to "outperform" from "underperform". "I think the (fears over Egypt) have dwindled a bit. Sentiment is definitely on the up," Mark Priest, senior equities trader at ETX Capital, said.
"The ISM (US manufacturing) data has generally added to a rally in the US With the Dow rallying, I think we'll always see the FTSE follow on." Travel-related firms InterContinental Hotels and TUI Travel shed 0.9 and 0.6 percent respectively, while midcap Thomas Cook dropped 1.4 percent, on concerns over disruption caused by the protests in Egypt.