FTSE remains firm as spot gold reverses earlier losses

Nick Serff, Market Analyst, City Index commented: "The FTSE pushed higher into the close led by banking and mining stocks as investors continued to add risk to their portfolios. The Banking sector remained the most actively traded throughout the day, with volume increasing on the news that JP Morgan was adding to its ‘overweight' stance on European banks.

BAE Systems topped the leaders list after announcing in line 2009 full year numbers and a 500 million share buyback scheme. Investors were also buoyed by an optimistic outlook on growth for 2010, helping the stock rise 4.4 percent on the day.

One of the main drivers behind the moves in stock indexes and currencies today has been the price of gold. The precious metal endured a rollercoaster day after news that the IMF would begin the sale of 191.3 tonnes of gold. The sales that are expected to be mostly taken up by India, Sri Lanka and Mauritius caused the price of April gold futures to drop over 20 Dollars in early London trade. Investors initially reacted to the move, selling the Euro and buying the Dollar before later shrugging of the news and reversing their positions.

US Jobless Claims followed yesterdays UK unemployment numbers coming in at the high end of forecasts. Released at 13:30 London time the weekly unemployment number was expected to show a drop in unemployment claims to 430,000. However claims for last week increased 31,000 to 473,000, indicating that the American labour market could still be showing signs of stress from the recent recession."