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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/water-firms-lead-ftse-100-gainers.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="The FTSE 100 Index climbed 19.4 points to 6002.8 by lunchtime on Friday" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/min-water-firms-lead-ftse-100-gainers.jpg" alt="The FTSE 100 Index climbed 19.4 points to 6002.8 by lunchtime on Friday"/></a></p>
<p>Water companies are the clear winners in the FTSE 100 Index after shares surged due to signs that the UK&#8217;s inflationary bubble will boost results.</p>
<p>London&#8217;s top tier gained 19.4 points to 6002.8, helped by a steady finish on Wall Street overnight and despite further falls for commodity stocks following Royal Dutch Shell&#8217;s results disappointment.</p>
<p>Severn Trent and United Utilities gained by 4% after Bank of America Merrill Lynch introduced buy ratings on the pair to reflect higher inflation. Severn was up 59p to 1449p and United lifted 3% or 19p to 574p.</p>
<p>Lower-tier stocks Pennon and Northumbrian Water were raised to neutral from underperform, helping them raise 9p to 626p and 5.4p to 314p respectively.</p>
<p>Shell extended Thursday&#8217;s 3% loss with a 1% fall, down 16p to 2161.5p, after its fourth quarter profits and production performance left investors cold. Other energy stocks remained in the red, with BG Group off 1p to 1435p.</p>
<p>Cairn Energy was the biggest Footsie faller, down 12.8p to 425.2p, after reports that Vedanta Resources was considering pulling out of a deal to buy a majority stake in Cairn India.</p>
<p>And Thomson owner TUI Travel remained under pressure due to the impact of Egypt&#8217;s civil unrest on the holiday plans of thousands of customers. Shares dropped another 3.7p to 239.3p.</p>
<p>Outside the top flight, ITV surged 3.35p to 82.75p, as Tuesday&#8217;s bullish statement from RTL, Europe&#8217;s largest free-to-air broadcaster, continued to have a positive impact on the stock ahead of its results in March.</p>
<p>And retailer HMV soared 12% or 2.75p to 25.5p, boosted by speculation that private equity and former retail bosses are eyeing the business for takeover.</p>
<p>Superdry fashion label SuperGroup was also on the rise, ahead 6% after a 98p rise to 1928p, while retail rival French Connection soared 22% &#8211; up 14.8p to 83.7p &#8211; after the company said its profits for the year would be at least £6.8 million, above expectations.</p>
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