Update filed at 1630 hrs

Revised UK gross domestic product (GDP) figures were enough to bring a little sunshine to London’s blue chip index this afternoon after a lacklustre morning session.

The FTSE 100 was up just over 1 per cent at 5209 as the market was closing, after government statistics confirmed GDP was up 1.2 per cent for the second quarter from 1.1 per cent in initial projections.

Telecoms stocks led the charge, with Cable & Wireless Worldwide the main beneficiary, pulling away still further to top the gains list, up 6.6 per cent at 66.75 pence while Vodafone climbed into the third gains spot.

Vodafone Group ascended 3 per cent to 153.9 pence but couldn’t quite pass African Barrick Gold as the index’s second best performer after it moved up 3.7 per cent to 592.50 pence.

Tullow Oil’s worries continued amid rumours that it has lost an exploration licence at a site in Uganda.


Local press reports this morning had suggested that the government has withdrawn the operational licence for the company’s Kingfisher field site.

Shares nudged downwards by 3.6 per cent to 1,214 pence – more or less where they were in early trading this morning.

Earlier this week in its interim results, the company had trumpeted the success of its operations in Uganda as one of the reasons for strong results.

BP was also down 1.4 per cent at 380 pence while Smiths Group completed the losers’ list, down 0.9 per cent at 1,123 pence.