Footsie back in the black despite oil giant decline

Growing fears for the dividend after a scathing attack from President Barack Obama on the company and its chief executive Tony Hayward sent the shares down as much as 6 per cent at one stage on a positive day for the wider market.

Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average traded above the 10,000 mark in a strong start, helping the Footsie finish 1.1 per cent or 57.71 points ahead at 5085.86.

The pound also saw a better session, climbing to near 1.46 against the dollar and holding its own near 1.21 against the euro.

BP aside, many commodity stocks were back in demand amid expectations of strong export figures from China today. US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke helped the mood with cautiously optimistic comments on the US recovery in his latest testimony.

He said the economic recovery was on a solid footing but cautioned it could be years before the jobs lost during the deep recession of 2008-2009 are restored.

"Although the support to economic growth from fiscal policy is likely to diminish in the coming year, the incoming data suggest that gains in private final demand will sustain the demand in economic recovery," he told the House of Representatives Budget Committee.

While Mr Bernanke said the economy had made an "important transition" where it was in less need of government support, his emphasis on the struggles of the US jobs market suggested the central bank was in no rush to raise interest rates.

In London, the focus was once more on BP, which has lost around 40 per cent of its value since the Deepwater Horizon explosion in April. The heavyweight's shares dropped 173/8p to 3911/2p, or 4 per cent, after clawing back an even bigger fall earlier.

While BP struggled, other commodity-based stocks topped the leader board as the leaked Chinese figures whetted risk appetite. Fresnillo was the leading gainer, up 431/2p to 9821/2p.

Two of the biggest gains of the session came in the FTSE 250 Index, led by spread betting group IG and financial services and healthcare software firm Misys.

Shares in Misys jumped 11 per cent – up 251/2p to 249p – after it sold the majority of its 54.6 per cent interest in its Allscripts US healthcare joint venture and promised to return around 700m of the proceeds to investors.

Misys was joined on the FTSE 250 risers' board by IG Group after the spread betting firm said recent market volatility had boosted trading volumes. With the company now expecting a 25 per cent leap in full-year profits, shares rose 10 per cent, or 39.6p to stand at 4313/4p.

Meanwhile, shares in the sports retail sector were mixed after JD Sports Fashion became the first firm to highlight a World Cup sales boost. The group said like-for-like sales in its sports shops rose 5.1 per cent on a year earlier between January 31 and last weekend.

Sports Direct International, which owns Sports World, rose 0.95p to 95.1p but JD lost an initial gain to stand a penny lower at 780p.

Shares in online fashion firm ASOS jumped 15 per cent after it reported a 44 per cent rise in annual profits and predicted better growth this year as it believed the shift towards internet shopping among young fashion consumers was "bigger than the economic cycle". Shares were up 951/2p to 728p.

The biggest Footsie risers were Fresnillo, Kazakhmys ahead 47p to 1106p, Petrofac up 49p to 1223p and Xstrata ahead 363/4p to 9613/4p. The biggest fallers were BP and Johnson Matthey sliding 13p to stand at 1480p.