London sees stronger equity trading but little gains

In London on Wednesday equities markets were a bit higher on a volume of 2.9 billion shares traded. The FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent to 5,347.4 as Deutsche Bank raised its target for the 100 to 5,550 by the end of the year and forecast that it would hit 5,850 by the end of next year, while FTSE 250 gained 0.4 percent on the day to close at 7,863.1.

Tobacco stocks were up on the day as analysts expected two US lawsuits against the tobacco industry to be dismissed at the appeals level, potentially leaving the industry less exposed to legal risk with only one major case, by the US Justice Department, still pending against US-linked tobacco companies.

This possibility left BAT up 1.5 percent to £11.72, Gallaher ahead by 1.1 percent to 864p, and Imperial Tobacco with a gain of 0.8 percent to £15.32. In the telecommunications sector, Vodafone advanced by 1.7 percent to 152½p on a positive assessment by Morgan Stanley. Clothing retailer Next added 2.6 percent to £14.90 in anticipation of its interim earnings report.

DSG International, which was previously known as Dixons, gained 1.3 percent to 154½p as Morgan Stanley’s initial assessment of the company gave it a rating of “equalweight” and a price target of 160p.