FTSE up despite revised GDP figures

World markets have shrugged off troubling economic data in the UK and United States as fears eased over out-of-control oil prices.

Wall Street’s Dow Jones industrial average pushed ahead by 0.2%, despite a downgrading of US GDP growth for the final quarter of 2010 to an annualised rate of 2.8%, from an initial estimate of 3.2%.

In London, the FTSE 100 Index was up 66.9 points at 5987 as investors were similarly undisturbed by revised UK GDP figures, which showed the fourth quarter decline was worse than feared at 0.6%, compared with the 0.5% first estimate.

The figures did hit the pound, however, which dropped to a one-month low against the dollar at 1.60.

Trading in the UK was thrown off course earlier in the session when a major technical glitch halted trading on the London Stock Exchange for more than four hours, but easing oil prices cheered investors and the market pressed ahead after reopening just after 12pm.

Speculation that the crisis in Libya may have cut oil supplies by less than previously estimated meant the price of Brent crude settled at around 111 US dollars, having spiked at nearly 120 dollars on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia, Opec’s biggest producer, also indicated that it was prepared to increase supplies in the face of the Libya turmoil.

In corporate news, Lloyds, which is 41% owned by the taxpayer, reported pre-tax profits of £2.2 billion – a marked improvement on the £6.3 billion loss in 2009.

But analysts were spooked by comments that the slower UK economy and higher funding costs will prevent growth in margins this year. Shares were 4% lower, a drop of 2.7p to 63p.

The biggest rise in the FTSE 100 Index came from BSkyB after the Financial Times said News Corp was close to an agreement with regulators about addressing competition concerns on its bid for the part of Sky it does not already own. BSkyB shares were more than 3% or 26.5p higher at 782p.