LONDON (ShareCast) - 1630:Close UK stocks have ended the session slightly higher and off their lows. As is often the case, they seem to have traded more in-sync with US equities than with their peers over on the other side of the Channel. Although it was overtaken towards the end of trading by more fleet footed silver miner Fresnillo (Frankfurt: A0MVZE - news) the spotlight was on Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) (RBS) all day long. The part state-owned lender announced a £2bn loss (including extraordinary items), but investors opted to look through those charges. Out on the FTSE 350, Bodycote (LSE: BOY.L - news) rose following its annual results. Filtrona (Xetra: A0ET3D - news) benefitted from a positive mention in today´s Times, along with a favorable change in its price target from UBS (NYSEArca: DJCI - news) . FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) finishes up 20 at 5,937.
1617:An interesting observation from Bloomberg as we head into the close, "economic growth that has been slower than any post- recession period since at least the 1940s is keeping investors from paying more for earnings even after stocks doubled in three years. The best January for the S&P 500 (SNP: ^GSPC - news) in 15 years has coincided with a decline in New York Stock Exchange trading volume to the lowest level since 1999 and record deposits with investment-grade bond funds." Stocks are bouncing back from the day´s lows on the back of the latest unemployment claims and house price data released Stateside this afternoon. FTSE 100 up 20 to 5,937. 1520: Gains for the FTSE 100 have now been pared with the index trading just one point higher at 5,917, despite some better-than-expected data from the US Labor Department. Initial jobless claims were unchanged last week at 351,000, better than the 354,000 forecast by economists. However, claims last week were revised up from 348,000 to 351,000. On a positive note, the four-week moving average fell by 7,000 to 359,000, the best level since March 2008. 1259: Footsie (FTSE: ^FTSE - news) is in positive territory, but it is hardly racing ahead, and around one third of its constituents are in the red. Chief among the laggards is RSA Insurance (Other OTC: RSANF.PK - news) , which disappointed on numerous fronts (revenues, profits and dividend) with its 2011 figures. The company is a favourite of income investors and they will not have welcomed the decision by the company to only nudge up its final dividend by 2% to 5.82p. The response to the update from outsourcing specialist Capita has been considerably warmer, with the group once again shrugging off concerns about putative public sector spending cuts as it forecast a top-line growth spurt in 2012. Ashmore (LSE: ASHM.L - news) is also heading higher, possibly after reporting an improvement in assets under management during the fourth quarter. FTSE 100 is up 13 at 5,930. 1139: Capita has slipped into the top spot on the Footsie after announcing that it expects to see an acceleration in top-line growth. The outsourcing specialist thus builds on gains from yesterday´s session, when it unveiled a civil service contract win. As for RSA Insurance, market commentary seems to be focusing on news that dividend growth is "to be more modest" to reflect the impact of low yields. Credit Suisse (NYSEArca: CSMA - news) has this morning raised its price target on shares of Bodycote to 380p from 350p; its analysts are saying that, "we continue to see a solid investment case in Bodycote as we believe the market is overly pessimistic on the margin outlook for the company." Bodycote is now rising by the most on the FTSE 350. FTSE 100 up 14 to 5,931. 1005: The EU Commission has lowered its forecast for growth in the Eurozone´s economy in 2012 to -0.3%, versus an earlier expectation for an expansion of 0.5%. Worth noting, the Commission has raised its inflation (CPI (Berlin: CEJ.BE - news) ) forecast for the euro area in 2012 to 2.1% year-on-year from the 1.7% rate that was previously foreseen. FTSE 100 up 21 to 5,937. 0951: The Footsie has extended gains with the banks performing well on the back of a better-than-expected performance by RBS. Lloyds, which reports tomorrow, is the high riser up 4.4%, while RBS is 3.9% higher while Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) has gained 3%. Outsourcing group Capita was also rising strongly after saying that it will accelerate growth this year after a "reasonable" rise in revenues in 2011. Not everyone impressed with results though, with RSA and British American Tobacco out of favour. "A raft of blue-chips reported full year numbers with more missing than beating analyst estimates. But with an increased chance of another round of QE from the Bank of England and Greece on the back burner, investors seem keen to dip back into stocks," according to Manoj Ladwa, Senior Trader at ETX. FTSE 100 up 31 at 5,948. 0902: The IFO Institute´s German business confidence index for the month of February has come in at 109.6, well above the 108.8 expected by the consensus. The euro/dollar is trading above the 1.33 mark. Out on the FTSE 350 Bodycote and Informa (Dusseldorf: 10163162.DU - news) are both registering large rises on the back of their final results. Industrial (Mexico: ST2000.MX - news) engineering outfit Bodycote has announced a 25% increase in its dividend on the back of a 14% improvement in revenues. Informa, for its part, has unveiled an 8.6% increase in its adjusted earnings per share to 37.8p 0830: UK stocks are now rising after an initial start downwards. Similarly, stocks over on the Continent began the day lower but have since turned around. Investors Europe-wide seem to be concentrating on company results, with sharp gains to be seen in shares of Swiss Re and Natixis (Euronext: KN.NX - news) . RBS is gaining following the release of its results, as is Informa. Bodycote is rocketing 11% higher. On the negative side of things, Kier is the worst performer on the FTSE 350 at the moment, on the back of its latest interim results. Following yesterday´s mediocre PMI data, on the the other side of the Channel, today´s IFO reading on German business confidence may draw more attention than usual. Of particular interest, reports that the Netherlands may have softened its position regarding a hypothetical increase in the size of the Eurozone´s 'firewall'. FTSE 100 up 14 to 5,931.
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