British Airways led the FTSE 100 today as investors responded to positive news from its peers Lufthansa and US airline Continental.

BA’s share price of over five per cent to 223.2 pence (1600 hrs) was boosted by the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) January figures showing passenger demand up 6.4 per cent from December 2009.

Giovanni Bisignani, director general and chief executive officer of IATA, said that airlines had lost two to three years of growth but noted that demand was now moving in the right director.

He explained, ‘We can start to see the future with some cautious optimism - the 3 per cent increase in freight volumes from December to January is particularly encouraging - but better volumes do not necessarily mean better profits. Passenger yields are still 15 per cent below peak.’

Elsewhere, Tesco’s share price was up once more today.

The supermarket group saw many investors selling out of the stock despite Warren Buffet increasing his holding in the group to 3 per cent.

The retail giant announced plans to close it Cheshire distribution centre this week, shedding more than 400 jobs but this didn’t stop its stock rising.

By 1600 hrs, Tesco had risen to 436.9 pence, up 0.9 per cent.

TD Waterhouse
Top ten trades
Tuesday 2 March (morning trading)

Buy
1. Prudential, 29.3 per cent 2. Lloyds Banking Group, 21.2 per cent
3. Aviva, 12.6 per cent
4. Royal Bank of Scotland, 6.8 per cent
5. Vedanta Resources, 6.3 per cent
6. Legal & General, 5.5 per cent
7. Marenica Energy, 5.5 per cent
8. HSBC Holdings, 4.7 per cent
9. Desire Petroleum, 4.2 per cent
10. Victoria Oil & Gas, 3.9 per cent

Sell
1. Barclays, 22.5 per cent
2. Lloyds Banking Group, 18.2 per cent
3. Xstrata, 14.2 per cent
4. Royal Bank of Scotland, 11.7 per cent
5. Prudential, 6.8 per cent
6. Vodafone, 6.2 per cent
7. Kazakhmys, 5.9 per cent
8. MAN Group, 5.2 per cent
9. BP, 4.6 per cent
10. Tesco, 4.6 per cent