Although the programme focused on HBOS 1p lower at 678p sentiment towards second-line players suffered greatly amid concerns that dubious

Although the programme focused on HBOS, 1p lower at 678p, sentiment towards second-line players suffered greatly amid concerns that dubious practices could be widespread in the industry. Another company said to be benefiting from the tentative revival in the market for wireless infrastructure is Filtronic, 14p higher to 411p yesterday. Word has it trading at the company is currently ahead of expectations. Cairn Energy gained 17p to 394p on the back of the purchase of 30,000 shares at 379p by Bill Gammell, the group’s chief executive.Second-line mortgage specialists were all hit by BBC2’sThe Money Programme, screened on Wednesday night, and its investigation into self-certification mortgages.

The programme highlighted sharp practices within the UK mortgage market, including the fact that some customers have been encouraged to inflate their income in order to be able to borrow more money. All this is very important for a company which generated over 20 per cent of its first-half revenues from the telecom industry.Logica also got a boost from ABN Amro, which urged investors to add to their holdings after a meeting with the company. “The meeting highlighted that management’s mood remains confident about hitting current expectations,” said the Dutch broker.It hinted that there may be sizeable contracts on the way for the company in the near future. The Swedish giant not only posted forecast-busting third-quarter figures but said it expected the global mobile systems market to stabilise in 2004, after a 10 per cent fall this year, and issued a bullish outlook for growth in the multimedia messaging arena. The broker warned: “Despite our expectation that dividends at the group will double, we still do not view the absolute level of cash return the shares offer as compelling.”BP reversed early gains to close 2.5p lower at 404.75p, as investors were unsettled by the group’s exposure to Russia following news that local prosecutors had seized the 61 per cent stake in oil giant Yukos belonging to the company’s boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Therefore its shares received a boost from yesterday’s impressive economic data, rising 12p to 211p. Dealers also reported vague talk of BA forging stronger ties with Spain’s Iberia.LogicaCMG jumped 16p to 304.75p following upbeat comments about the telecom industry from Ericsson.

“If the Russian authorities can seize Mr Khodorkovsky’s stake, what is stopping them from doing the same to assets owned by a foreign investor like BP?” one trader asked.British Airways is very sensitive to the state of the US economy given its reliance on transatlantic routes. The broker tipped the stock to continue its strong performance, a performance which has seen the company’s value almost double over the past 12 months.The strong US economic growth figure helped the FTSE 100 index to cross the psychologically important 4,300 level, as it rose 35.2 points to 4,300.9. Vodafone put on 0.5p to 124.5p but was held back from further gains by ABN Amro, which cut its price target to 108p and urged investors to reduce their holdings. The broker also believes Xstrata will do well due to its leverage to copper and zinc, although it warned that the company’s South African operations are likely to be held back by the strength of the rand.Antofagasta, the FTSE 250 copper specialist, was not only boosted by the buoyant copper price but by an impressive third-quarter production report in which it boasted a 4 per cent jump in output The group’s shares rose 43p to 975p in response Antofagasta is Numis’s favourite London-listed copper play. Analysts attributed the gains to forecast-busting US GDP figures, which showed that the world’s largest economy grew by an amazing 7.2 per cent in the third quarter, its fastest pace since 1984.
Should this positive trend in metal prices continue, Rio Tinto, with its large US dollar cost base, is best placed to benefit, says Numis Securities. The mining sector was on traders’ buy lists yesterday as base metal prices roared higher across the board following a short period of consolidation. Rio Tinto gained 42p to 1,439p, BHP Billiton rose 21.25p to 470.25p, Anglo American gained 42p to 1,295p and Xstrata put on 9.5p to 577p as the prices of copper, zinc and nickel went higher.

It is not at all clear that this is an appropriate application of the World Bank’s largesse.jeremy.warner independent.co.uk. The involvement of the World Bank, with its politically correct guidelines and procedures, has only delayed the project and in all probability made it more costly. The World Bank was brought in only to give an international stamp of authority to a project that involves some of the most politically sensitive areas of the world, as well as to enable Azerbaijan to gain a rather larger equity participation than it would otherwise have had. The implicit guarantee of the US allows the World Bank to borrow at rates as advantage as those of the US Treasury and then lend it on to development projects where there has been market failure.However, the point about the Baku pipeline is that the participants were quite happy to finance it without anyone’s help. The decision has none the less provided a rallying point for what opposition there is, leaving some members of the pipeline consortium to wonder why the World Bank is being involved at all.The purpose of the World Bank is to provide cheapish finance to projects in the developing world that the markets wouldn’t otherwise back, either because they are perceived to be too risky or because the returns are not worth the bother The theory is a good one. The pipeline has for long been a bone of contention with environmentalists. Yet as environmentally damaging construction projects go, this one comes a long way down the scale, and were it not for the involvement of the World Bank, it probably wouldn’t be much of an issue at all.The World Bank will next week formally announce whether to grant the project approximately $300m of backing.