Wednesday morning market opening

Dec 23 2009 By nebusiness

THE London market extended its pre-Christmas rally today after the best US home sales in three years suggested the world’s biggest economy is gaining strength.

The figures, which offset earlier gloom about US economic output for the third quarter being revised lower, had a positive impact on the Asian markets, with the Nikkei almost 2% higher in Japan.

The FTSE 100 Index built on gains seen so far this week, adding 36.8 points to 5365.4 in a quiet first hour for trading volumes. The top flight is now within 30 points of matching its highest level for the year.

Oil stocks, which have been responsible for much of this week’s rally, posted further gains as BP lifted 6.8p to 604.3p and Royal Dutch Shell rose 10p to 1817.5p. This was after oil cartel OPEC elected to keep production unchanged in 2010.

Cairn Energy added another 3.2p to 342.3p as it continued to benefit from this week’s news that it will begin drilling off the coast of Greenland one year ahead of schedule.

Outside the top flight, shares in Ideal Shopping Direct rose half a penny to 126.5p after the home shopping announced a £5 million deal to buy the gardening products business set up by its founders two years ago.