Business Financial Newswire - END-OF-DAY REPORT: Headline shares closed comfortably higher, as EU bank stress test results bolstered UK bank performances, stocks receiving a boost from a strong performance on Wall Street on pleasing house sales data. At the close of business, the FTSE100 was up 38.5 points at 5,351.12 with the FTSE250 ahead 44.45 points at 10,138.12 and the FTSE Smallcaps 24.81 points better at 2,772.53. NEW YORK US stocks turned positive in late morning trade after news of a rise in new-home sales in June. Approaching the close in London, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 69 points at 10,493, the S&P500 added 9 points at 1,112 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 18 points at 2,287. LONDON MARKETS Banks were a focus in London today after the Financial Services Authority confirmed that Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC all passed the European bank stress tests. Barclays led the way, up 13.65p at 315.65p, with RBS ahead 1.34p at 46.67p, Lloyds 2.48p better at 66p. Asia-facing Standard Chartered, which was not involved in the stress tests, added 26p at 1,850p and HSBC edged up 3.1p at 649.3p. Oil producers remained in the spotlight as BP resumed remedial work on its troublesome Gulf of Mexico well, ahead of the next tropical storms, the company also facing questions over the tenure of its CEO. BP shares were ahead 18.35p at 416.95p. Exploration outfit Tullow Oil was a major success story, gaining 60p at 1,239p, after announcing the discovery of a major new oil field off Ghana. FT publisher Pearson jumped to the top of the leaderboard, adding 39p at 1,012p after reporting a surge in first-half earnings and raising its guidance for the full-year. Mining shares were mixed, with Kazakhmys the clear sector leader, up 18p at 1,203p. Rio Tinto gained 14.5p at 3,350p, while Anglo American ticked up 16.5p at 2,539p after announcing it will enjoy earnings of $222m from the Anglo Platinum operation. Negatives came out of Vedanta Resources, down 13p at 2,442p ahead of a potentially stormy AGM Wednesday, while Randgold Resources was off 100p at 5,935p and African Barrick Gold, the biggest loser of the session, was down 24p at 550p as gold eased to $1,185 an ounce. Commercial property companies were in good shape, with British Land up 3.5p at 466p. Land Securities edged up 4.5p at 616p and Hammerson added 7.2p at 390.7p. Selected telecoms firms were also in demand, with BT Group up 1.5p at 142.2p and Vodafone 1.55p higher at 152.1p. Other notable gainers included software house Autonomy, ahead 7p at 1,630p, and drinks giant Diageo, 11p better at 1,143p. On the downside with blue chips, Reckitt Benckiser slipped 3p at 3,333p, after in-line interim numbers and a cautious outlook statement. Pharmaceutical stocks continued to struggle, with GlaxoSmithKline down 15p at 1,172p and AstraZeneca off 20.5p at 3,126p, while prosthetics maker Smith & Nephew eased 10p at 546p. Rumours of an imminent price war hit holiday operators, with TUI Travel easing 2.28p at 221.3p, and midcap peer Thomas Cook off 1.49p at 191.2p. Chipmaker ARM Holdings slipped 7.2p at 346.1p and BG Group was down 15.5p at 1,066p, both due to publish interim results tomorrow.

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