Societe Generale lifts UK stocks

Banking stocks pushed the FTSE 100 Index higher after French bank Societe Generale lifted the mood with a stellar fourth-quarter profit haul.

The top tier shrugged off the Bank of England’s gloomier assessment of the UK economy for the rest of the year and edged closer to a new 29-month high.

The Footsie closed 48.2 points higher at 6085.3, despite the Bank downgrading the UK’s growth forecast and warning in its quarterly inflation report that CPI could rise towards 5% in the coming months.

The strongest US housebuilding figures for 20 months also lifted confidence in the global recovery and led to gains on the New York Stock Exchange.

The pound fell against both the dollar and the euro after Bank Governor Mervyn King downplayed the likelihood of an imminent interest rate hike. Sterling stood at 1.60 against the greenback and at 1.18 against the euro.

Heavily weighted banking stocks made further gains after Barclays reported a 32% rise in profits to £6.1 billion on Tuesday, with HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland both rising by around 3%.

Confidence in the sector was lifted by results from Societe Generale, which posted net profit in the fourth quarter of 874 million euros (£735 million) – four times its earnings in the previous year. The results have been viewed by analysts as a sign the wider industry is on the mend.

Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton was one of the biggest Footsie fallers despite reporting a 71% jump in half-year profits to 10.5 billion US dollars (6.5 billion) and pledging to return 10 billion US dollars (£6.2 billion) to shareholders this year. Despite the company saying it was “cautiously optimistic” about the short-term outlook for the global economy, shares slipped 36p to 2464p.

In the UK retail sector, Thorntons shares fell 9p to 92p after it revealed a drop in half-year profits and Game Group shares were 1.8p lower at 70.3p.

The biggest Footsie risers were Resolution up 16.6p at 280.6p, GKN ahead 9.3p at 217p, Royal Bank of Scotland up 1.95p at 47.2p and Land Securities ahead 25p at 727p. The biggest Footsie fallers were Serco down 8p at 543p, BHP Billiton off 36p at 2464p, Tullow Oil down 18p at 1409p and BG Group off 18p at 1496.5p.