Pru, Aviva and L&G all help biggest share bounceback
Insurer shares led the stock market rise yesterday as the FTSE 100 registered one of its strongest rebounds in more than a year, ending 3.1%, or 157.09 points, higher at 5,195.17, the FT reports.
Short covering helped Prudential jump 6.8% to 547½p amid talk that it was working with US officials to negotiate a lower price for AIA.
Legal & General rose 7.4% to 79p while Aviva gained 7.1% to 321¼p. Nomura said both stocks offered "remarkable value"
Surpluses released
The crisis in corporate credit has proved far less severe than feared in 2008, when the annuity writers strengthened their balance sheets "to face the possibility of years of losses at Great Depression levels", analyst Nick Holmes said. With credit losses negligible to date, the release of surplus provisions could lift profit by as much as 20% for L&G and by 10% for Aviva over the next few years, he argued.
Websites
