The London market set another all-time high today as a large shareholder dividend highlighted further progress in the turnaround of insurer Aviva.
The FTSE Index 100 rose 41.9 points to 6961.1 after a strong start on Wall Street helped traders overcome worries over China following the release of a new target for growth of 7% in 2015, down from the 7.5% forecast last year.
The London market beat the previous high of 6,950.6 set last week, with traders now looking to 7,000 as the next major psychological barrier.
The Bank of England's decision to keep interest rates at their record low of 0.5% for another month failed to trouble the pound, which was broadly unchanged against the US dollar, at 1.52, and the euro, 1.37.
Aviva's 30% dividend payout made it one of the stand-out performers in the FTSE 100 Index following a 6% rise in operating profits to £2.2 billion.
Chief executive Mark Wilson said the big hike in dividend payout would repay the faith of shareholders after a difficult period of trading.
Shares were 7% or 37.5p higher at 569.5p while rival Friends Life followed suit - up 28.7p to 434.9p - ahead of next month's completion of its takeover by Aviva. Friends also reported a big rise in annual profits.
Mr Wilson said Aviva entered the new year in a position of financial strength but said there was much work still to be done in its turnaround.
Meanwhile, ITV shares made strong progress for a second session in a row after Goldman Sachs added the broadcaster to its "conviction buy" list.
The company's shares lifted almost 3% or 6.5p to 241p and were 6% higher yesterday after annual results included a £250 million special dividend.
Car insurer Admiral said its pre-tax profits dipped 4% to £357 million last year, the first time it has not posted a record surplus since its flotation in 2004.
The decline came as the number of car policies it wrote fell 12.5% to 1.4 million as a result of its decision to chase value over volume sales.
Shore Capital analyst Eamonn Flanagan said the results were lower than his forecast and the "first year the group has gone backwards".
However, investors took the results in their stride as shares lifted 55p to 1514p.
Outside the top flight, Betfair jumped almost 18% after the betting exchange raised its profits guidance for this year in the wake of a 20% surge in revenues to £92.9 million for the quarter to January 31. The stock lifted 319p to 2105p.
The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 were Friends Life up 28.7p at 434.9p, Aviva up 37.5p at 569.5p, Schroders up 144p at 3178p and Standard Life up 18.8p at 442p.
The biggest fallers in the FTSE 100 were Rio Tinto down 88.5p at 2985p, HSBC down 15.5p at 570.6p, International Airlines Group down 7.5p at 562p and Ashtead Group down 15p at 1129p.
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