January 4, 2002	Friday	Shawwal 19, 1422

LONDON, Jan 3: Britain’s FTSE 100 surged 1.9 per cent to its highest closing level for four weeks on Thursday as technology stocks such as ARM Holdings were revived by signs the industry is emerging from its downturn.

The rally spilled over into telecoms and mobile phone giant Vodafone jumped 3.7 per cent, while industrial cyclical stocks such as Invensys were boosted by an improvement in US economic prospects.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 100.5 points at 5,318.8, representing its best one-day performance since early December. The index hit a peak of 5,328.4, its highest intraday level since December 7. Wall Street helped the mood by staging an early rally.

The UK’s techMARK index closed up 4.3 per cent at 1,537.3. Chip designer ARM jumped 9.6 per cent, while software firms Sage and CMG both jumped six per cent.

In telecoms, BT Group was up 4.4 per cent, but the most sparkling performers were FTSE 250 alternative telecoms stocks Energis and COLT Telecom, up 21 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.

Elsewhere, Enterprise Oil shares jumped eight per cent after a positive research note from investment bank UBS Warburg added to support from an overnight rise in crude oil prices.—Reuters