Awwal 28, 1432 H/March 3, 2011, SPA -- Britain's top shares rallied on Thursday, as oil prices softened on hopes of a peace deal in Libya, while investors engineers Amec and IMI were boosted by earnings news, Reuters reported. Brent oil slipped 1 percent to around $115 a barrel, as the Arab League said a peace plan for Libya was under consideration. Commodity stocks, which have been hit by concerns that the rising cost of oil could derail a fragile global economic recovery, led the rally. Tullow Oil was top performer among energy shares, up 3.7 percent after announcing an oil discovery, with Oriel Securities to raising its investment recommendation on the stock to "hold" from "reduce". Xstrata was a notable gainer among the miners, up 2.2 percent after stakeholder Glencore reported bumper profits. By 1210 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was up 74.77 points, or 1.3 percent, at 5,989.66, having fallen in eight of the previous nine trading days. David Battersby, an investment manager at Redmayne-Bentley, said his investment strategy had not changed drastically and he expected markets would bounce back. "Once the situation has sorted itself, markets will recover. But it is a matter of time, and are we right on this?" he said. Battersby said the market needed resolution on the political situation in the Arab world before the FTSE could make real advances, but higher oil prices and the impact of interest rate rises would need to be taken into account. For those reasons he said he had avoided airline stocks and retailers as consumers will feel the pressure of rising costs. Kingfisher, Europe's biggest home improvements retailer, was the second top faller on London's blue-chip index, down 0.5 percent. RESULTS CHEER Engineering firm IMI rose 5.9 percent after it reported a slightly better than expected profit. Oil services and engineering group Amec gained 5.9 percent after it beat forecasts with a 30 percent jump in earnings in 2010. BSkyB added 2.1 percent after Rupert Murdoch's News Corp took a huge step towards securing its prized $14 billion buyout of the broadcaster. "With concerns over dwindling subscriber numbers, we imagine that shareholders will be content with the deal," Atif Latif, director of trading at Guardian Stockbrokers said. Whitbread rose 2.8 percent, rebounding from a fall of more than 5 percent in the previous session after results, as HSBC upgraded Britain's biggest hotel operator to "overweight" from "neutral". -- SPA
