FTSE-100 ends volatile session with gain

currency in nearly seven years.

European equity markets also saw topsy turvy sessions, with Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac 40 both finishing more than 2 per cent ahead.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower amid disappointing corporate results from Bank of America and Citigroup.

Oil heavyweights rose as the price of a barrel of Brent crude appeared to steady, following its recent slide, at around 49 US dollars. which yesterday announced it was cutting hundreds of jobs amid the oil plunge, added 10.4p to 392.6p.

advanced 77p to 2129p.

In a busy session for trading updates, Primark owner

rose nearly 4 per cent or 112p to 3147p after it reported another strong performance from its retail arm, with sales up 15 per cent in the 16 weeks to January 3.

But elsewhere

in the

retail sector, Argos and Homebase owner was under pressure after a disappointing trading update.

It highlighted a volatile period caused by the impact of Black Friday promotions and said that Argos sales were flat in the 18 weeks to January 3, compared with City hopes for growth of about 2 per cent.

Shares in the FTSE 250 group fell 6 per cent, or 12.9p, to 199.1p.

The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 Index were

up 315p to 5265p, up 56p to 1121p, up 9p to 188.1p and

up 12.2p to 255.3p. The biggest fallers were

down 10.6p to 318.6p, Imperial Tobacco down 82p to 2850p, down 9.6p to 434.4p and down 3.4p to 240.6p. US STOCKS fell for a fifth straight session as bank results disappointed and investors fretted over the potential impact of global economic weakness on US earnings.

Energy shares extended recent losses as oil prices settled down more than 4 per cent after weak US economic data spurred worries over oil demand. The S&P energy index fell 1.2 percent.

The S&P financial dropped 1.3 per cent.

lost 5.2 per cent to $15.20, among the S&P 500’s biggest drags, after the secondlargest US bank by assets reported a 14 per cent slump in quarterly profit. shares fell 3.7 percent to $47.23 after its results.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 106.38 points, or 0.61 per

sector cent, to 17,320.71, the S&P 500 lost 18.6 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 1,992.67 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 68.50 points, or 1.48 percent, to 4,570.82.

Adding to volatility, the Swiss National Bank scrapped its cap on the franc currency in a surprise move. US-traded Swiss stocks climbed. was up 1.8 per cent at $23.22 and

jumped 3.9 per cent to $100.58 as a strengthening franc made US-dollar denominated stocks cheaper.

shares tumbled 14.1 per cent to $34.30 as the worst performing S&P 500 component. The electronics retailer expects same-store sales growth to be flat to negative in the first two quarters of its fiscal year.

After the bell, shares of dipped 1.1 percent to $35.80 following its results.