The FTSE 100
[FTSE] rose 31.41 points at 5,092.33 in choppy trade. The index fell 2.5 percent last week, its fourth straight weekly decline and is down 6 percent in 2010.
Strength in miners was underpinned by bullish results from Randgold Resources
[FTSE:RRS], the top FTSE 100 riser, up 6.4 percent after the gold miner saw its full-year profit jump 79 percent. Xstrata
[FTSE:XTA] added 3.6 percent after the mining group reinstated its dividend, after it met expectations by posting a 41 percent fall in 2009 profit. The sector was also rebounding from last week's sharp falls when it fell over 8 percent.
Oil firms also rebounded from recent falls with Royal Dutch Shell [FTSE:RDSa] and BP [FTSE:BP] up 1.2 and 0.5 percent respectively. But BG Group [FTSE:BG], which reported downbeat results on Friday, fell 1.6 percent after its rating was cut to "equal-weight" by Barclays Capital following results on Friday.
Defensive plays were firmly on the front foot as appetite for risk receded, with pharmaceuticals and tobacco stocks strong performers. AstraZeneca
[FTSE:AZN], GlaxoSmithKline
[FTSE:GSK] and Shire
[FTSE:SHP] added 0.2-1.8 percent, while Imperial Tobacco
[FTSE:IMT] and British American Tobacco
[FTSE:BATS] gained 1.7 and 2.3 percent respectively.
Financial stocks took most points off the FTSE 100 as negative sentiment over euro zone debt problems weighed. Barclays
[FTSE:BARC], Standard Chartered
[FTSE:STAN], Royal Bank of Scotland [FTSE:RBS] and Lloyds Banking Group
[FTSE:LLOY] fell 0.3-2.3 percent.
Life insurers Legal & General
[FTSE:LGEN], Aviva
[FTSE:AV] and Prudential [FTSE:PRU] fell 2.4-3.5 percent.
Financeroll.com – Britain's top share index closed 0.6 percent higher on Monday, rebounding as gains in miners and strength in defensive issues more than offset weaker financials, which were weighed by ongoing eurozone debt issues.
