UK Market News

LONDON (ShareCast) - London's benchmark index closed with triple-digit gains as optimism ahead of the US Congress's vote on the much-debated bail-out plan to relieve financial companies of their toxic debts spread across the Atlantic.

Footsie (news) 's gains were maintained by banking shares, which rose after the FSA increased the protection limit for deposits in UK banks from £35,000 to £50,000 from Tuesday of next week. There is also a possibility of lifting it higher if necessary.

HBOS (LSE: HBOS.L - news) , Lloyds Bank and Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) all boast gains of 5% or more.

British Airways (LSE: BAY.L - news) was a heavy faller after the airline reported a drop in traffic in September as tight economic conditions curbed air travel and said the outlook remains challenging. BA carried about 2.8m passengers during the month compared with about 2.96m in the same month last year, a drop of 5.6%.

However, it may be a sign of the times that budget airline Ryanair (Dublin: RY4.IR - news) flew more than 5m passengers last month, 20% more than the same time last year, although it didn't fill its planes quite as efficiently. Passenger numbers jumped to 5.23m in September, up from 4.35m in 2007, taking the total number of passengers flown during the 12 months to 56m.

Oils were weak, with the oil price heading for its biggest weekly decline in four years, despite the sharp rise by Regal Petroleum (LSE: RPT.L - news) on bid speculation. Petrofac (LSE: PFC.L - news) , Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE.L - news) and Wood Group are the big losers in the oil sector.

Regal Petroleum shot up after denying reports that Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) has made a 300p per share bid. The Telegraph this morning said that the Anglo-Dutch oil giant had written to the company's chairman, Keith Henry, within the last few days with an offer worth £1.2bn. A spokesman for Regal this morning told reporters it has "seen no such letter".

Elsewhere in the oil sector Premier Oil (LSE: PMO.L - news) is lower despite announcing a discovery in the Al Amir SE-1 well in Egypt. Hardy Oil and Gas said the exploratory well GS01-M1 has been plugged and abandoned after porosity development was observed in the Oligocene target but no proper seal was present.

Old Mutual (LSE: OML.L - news) is going well after the group said it has paid £47m to settle a dispute dating back to 2002 between susbdiary Skandia and its former asset management arm. Banks are also buoyant ahead of this evening's vote in the US House of Representatives on the $700bn Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP).

Autonomy has seen a record third quarter with revenues and earnings per share at the top end of the range of market forecasts but shares in the data search software giant are still down.

London Stock Exchange (LSE: LSE.L - news) is in the dumps after Credit Suisse advised clients to trim their holdings as the exchange comes under increasing competition from rival bourses. The Swiss bank has cut its rating on the stock to "under-perform".

Imperial Tobacco (LSE: IMT.L - news) is also hit by broker comment as Citigroup (NYSE: C - news) expressed a preference for British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS.L - news) . The US bank has cut its rating on IMPs to "hold" from "buy" and pared its price target from 2120p to 2010p.

Marks & Spencer is also on the up after JP Morgan upgraded the retail giant from "neutral" from "underweight" after yesterday's second quarter trading update. The US bank believes that Marks & Spencer has been too optimistic about the economy over the last couple of years, and thus has expanded too much and over ordered. This has resulted in a sharp uplift in operating costs which JP Morgan is now pleased to see the company is addressing.

House builder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW.L - news) 's discussion with its banks and debt holders to redraw its banking covenants will not be concluded before next year. The shares head lower, with one broker - KBC Peel Hunt - even suggesting that the banks would be better served by letting the company fail than continuing to prop it up.

Lower cargo volumes and reduced flight schedules over the winter in Europe have prompted John Menzies to warn on profits this year.

Outdoor clothing retailer Blacks Leisure (LSE: 40GY.L - news) warned it expects to report a wider pre-tax loss in the first half following difficult trading in August. The group said it now expects that the loss before tax for the first half will be about £4.5m before exceptional items, compared to a loss before tax and exceptional items of £0.6m in the previous year.

Plastics and fibres group Filtrona (LSE: FLTR.L - news) has agreed to buy the business and assets of Michigan-based Lendell Manufacturing for $35m in cash.

Marketing services firm Freshwater said overall pre-tax profit for the year ended August 2008 will be approximately £1.2m, well ahead of the prior year although below market expectations.

Small-cap oil and gas explorer Elixir Petroleum has had to delay the restart of production at its High Island field because of damage to the offshore pipeline.

A rare spot of good news in the house building sector after Abbey, which builds homes in the UK, Ireland and Prague, said it had seen a slight improvement in trading as the autumn selling season gets underway.

FTSE 100 - Risers HBOS (HBOS) 200.50p +17.87% Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED.L - news) (VED) 1,019.00p +11.73% Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 555.00p +11.33% Lloyds TSB Group (LSE: LLOY.L - news) (LLOY) 290.25p +10.78% Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO.L - news) (ANTO) 380.25p +8.95% Barclays (BARC) 368.00p +8.88% Old Mutual (OML) 77.40p +6.61% Legal & General Group (LGEN) 96.80p +6.26% Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ.L - news) (KAZ) 569.00p +6.26% BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L - news) (BLT) 1,187.00p +5.89%

FTSE 100 - Fallers British Airways (BAY) 165.40p -7.13% Inmarsat (LSE: ISAT.L - news) (ISAT) 443.75p -5.48% International Power (IPWG.PK - news) (IPR) 334.00p -4.64% Fresnillo (LSE: FRES.L - news) (FRES) 280.75p -4.26% Autonomy Corporation (LSE: AU.L - news) (AU.) 890.50p -4.25% Friends Provident (LSE: FP.L - news) (FP.) 83.40p -3.58% Compass Group (LSE: CPG.L - news) (CPG) 339.25p -3.49% Petrofac Ltd (PFC) 560.50p -3.45% Experian Group (EXPN) 344.50p -3.03% Whitbread (LSE: WTB.L - news) (WTB) 1,055.00p -3.03%

FTSE 250 (news) - Risers Talvivaara Mining Company (LSE: TALV.L - news) (TALV) 240.00p +22.76% Johnston Press (LSE: JPR.L - news) (JPR) 39.75p +18.66% Yell Group (LSE: YELL.L - news) (YELL) 100.00p +11.11% Misys (LSE: MSY.L - news) (MSY) 140.00p +8.53% Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI.L - news) (TNI) 86.75p +8.44% Alliance & Leicester (AL.) 304.00p +8.28% Inchcape (LSE: INCH.L - news) (INCH) 200.50p +7.94% Bodycote International (LSE: BOY.L - news) (BOY) 176.25p +7.63% Foreign and Colonial Inv Trust (FRCL) 271.00p +7.54% Michael Page International (MPI) 250.00p +6.95%

FTSE 250 - Fallers Marston's (MARS) 133.00p -15.82% Game Group (LSE: GMG.L - news) (GMG) 170.25p -13.58% Greene King (LSE: GNK.L - news) (GNK) 419.50p -10.55% Gem Diamonds (LSE: GEMD.L - news) (GEMD) 490.00p -9.34% BBA Aviation (LSE: BBA.L - news) (BBA) 104.75p -8.52% Heritage Oil (HOC.TO - news) (HOIL) 194.50p -7.71% Derwent London (LSE: DLN.L - news) (DLN) 935.00p -6.87% Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP.L - news) (AQP) 216.50p -6.78% Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 210.25p -6.14% Enterprise Inns (LSE: ETI.L - news) (ETI) 169.00p -5.59%