Morning Markets: Pru gains ease FTSE past 5,600

The FTSE 100 edged past the 5,600 mark in early trading Monday, helped in part by a 2% gain for Prudential which has accelerated its plans for a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The index hit 5,612.79 as oil fabrications giant Petrofac rose 2.43% to £10.98 after hiking its dividend by 41%. Profit after tax leapt to $363m from $265m in 2008, which was slightly better than expected, while the pre-tax figure rose 25% to $447.5m. Revenue increased by 10% to $3.65bn. Prudential grew 2.31% to 532p after revealing it wants to speed up its plans to float on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company wants the move effective before its $20bn rights issue to help fund the purchase of AIG Asia. The listing will be prompted by an introduction, with a dual-primary listin...