4:00PM London, 11:00 AM New York – The Bank of England left its key lending rate unchanged at 0.5% and increased the Treasury bond purchase plan by 25 billion. Cable & Wireless dropped after it plans to split into two separate companies. Vedanta Resource fell. Invensys Plc dropped on weaker than expected sales. Man Group first half net plunged. Unilever guided higher restructuring costs.

The Bank of England left its key lending rate at 0.5% and the European Central Bank left its rate unchanged at 1%. U.S. Fed left its target rate between zero and 0.5% a day ago.

Central banks around the world are in a concerted effort to keep interest rates low and continue the purchase of government issued bonds to pump liquidity in the market.

The Bank of England has completed the purchase of 175 billion of government bonds and increased it by 25 billion today. The Monetary Policy Committee also noted that capacity utilization is “underutilized” and “that will continue to bear down on inflation for some time to come.”

The ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet also indicated that emergency liquidity provided “are phased out in a timely and gradual fashion.”

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 26.16 or 0.5% to 5,134.05 and the pound edged higher to close at $1.657 and to close at €1.114.

Gainers & Losers

3i Infrastructure plc fell 0.7% to 102.80 pence after the investment firm said its six-month pre-tax profit declined to £28.3 million from £54.4 million in the prior year period.

Alliance Trust PLC the investment company fell 0.9% to 303.80 pence.

BTG plc decreased 5.6% to 182.10 pence after the specialty pharmaceutical company said first-half revenues rose 58.6% to £47.9 million from £30.2 million a year ago. Net profit for the first-half rose 28% to £4.1 million or 1.6 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £3.2 million or 2.1 pence per share a year ago.

Cable & Wireless plc fell 7.4% to 137.00 pence an international telecommunications company said first-half revenues rose 13% to £1.86 billion from £1.65 billion a year ago. Net profit for the first-half rose 45% to £120 million or 4.8 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £83 million or 3.4 pence per share a year ago.

Catlin group Limited fell 1.4% to 324.80 pence after the Bermuda-based insurer said gross premiums written on a constant currency basis increased 10%.

Charles Stanley Group PLC closed unchanged at 260.00 pence after the stockbroker said first-half revenues rose 14% to £55.9 million from £49 million a year ago. Net profit for the first-half rose 5.6% to £3.8 million or 8.60 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £3.6 million or 8.13 per share a year ago.

Charter International plc fell 3.5% to 673.00 pence after the industrial engineer said financial position “remains strong” and declared the payment of the interim dividend of £11.7 million.

easyJet plc fell 1.6% to 367.80 pence after the low-cost airline operator said in October number of passengers increased 6.6% to 4.22 million from 3.96 million in the previous-year month.

Invensys plc dropped 5.9% to 281.60 pence after the global technology company said first-half revenues fell 3% to £1.06 billion from £1.09 billion a year ago. Net profit for the first-half rose 5.5% to £77 million or 9.5 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £73 million or 9.1 pence per share a year ago.

Man Group Plc closed unchanged at 325.00 pence after the fund manager said first-half revenues fell 47.6% to £692 million from £1.32 billion a year ago. Net profit for the first-half fell 51% to £248 million or 13.8 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £507 million or 28.8 pence per share a year ago.

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels PLC dropped 3.2% to 340.50 pence after the hotel operator said third quarter revenues fell 7.8% to £160.4 million from £173.9 million a year ago. Net profit for the quarter fell 11% to £17.5 million or 5.7 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £19.7 million or 6.5 pence per share a year ago.

National Express Group PLC dropped 2.4% to 317.20 pence after the transportation company said that it will continue to operate its loss making franchise on the east coast until the committed funds are exhausted. The company’s discussion with the Department for Transport has not yielded any outcome so far.

SEGRO plc decreased 2.4% to 335.80 pence and chief executive officer Ian Coull said that the business “shows operational resilience.”

Shanks Group plc dropped 1.4% to 85.75 pence an independent waste management company said first-half revenues fell 3.2% to £335 million from £346 million a year ago. Net profit for the first-half was £28.9 million compared to net loss of £6.7 million a year ago.