Friday evening business bulletin

May 2 2008 By Andrew Mernin

The London market ended the week on a high today as stocks soared on the back of some good economic news from the US.

Banking shares were among the big winners after the Federal Reserve announced an extra 50 billion US dollars funding package, with heavyweight mining counterparts also advancing thanks to rising metals prices.

With a second day of strong gains on Wall Street thanks to better than expected US jobs data also buoying the mood, the FTSE ended the day 128.2 points up at 6215.5, a gain of more than 2%. It is the first time the index has closed above the 6200 mark since mid-January.

Building supplies firm Wolseley, which does most of its business in the US, was the Footsie’s best performer. Shares in the group closed up more than 8%, or 41.5p, to 541.5p.

Supermarket chain Waitrose announced plans today for a new smaller ``market town" format as it seeks to expand the chain.

The group said it was trialling its first outlet under the new design in St Neots in Cambridgeshire on May 16 with plans to further extend the format to new and existing stores if successful.

Waitrose declined to confirm potential numbers, but the group is reportedly looking at around 100 market town stores.

The grocer said the format would focus on offering local produce, with locally produced food and drink lines to increase by 200%, while half the shop will be dedicated to fresh products.

Employment firm Northern Recruitment has warned that annual results will fail to hit targets after revenues at its temporary placement arm weakened. The Newcastle-based firm said its permanent revenue stream remained strong in the third quarter.

The pound at 5pm was US$1.9761 compared to US$1.9753 at the previous close while the euro at 5pm was £0.7809  compared to £0.7826 at the previous close.