FTSE 100 finishes marginally higher as Scottish vote boost runs out of steam

After an initial burst of enthusiasm - though by no means as much as expected - leading shares ended the day only marginally ahead in the wake of the Scottish referendum no vote.

The FTSE 100 finished at 6837.92, up just 18.63 points having earlier climbed as high as 6876, within 75 points of its record high. Even the US flotation of Alibaba, in what has been labelled the biggest IPO in history, failed to set the market soaring.

Over a volatile week, virtually dominated by the Scottish vote, the index added a far from impressive 32 points.

But companies which had been hard hit by the prospect of Scotland winning its independence were among the main winners when the union held firm. Even here though, their shares closed below their earlier peaks.

Royal Bank of Scotland rose 8.8p to 366p, Lloyds Banking Group was lifted 0.95p to 76.82p, Standard Life added 5.9p to 421.6p, while St James Place - one of the wealth management companies with clients in Scotland - was up 21p at 721p.

Elsewhere SSE was 2p higher at £15.23, Babcock International was 26p better at £10.91 and BAE Systems climbed 4.1p to 471.7p.

Companies with exposure to the North Sea oil industry have also moved higher, including pump maker Weir, up 10p at £26.40.

But the prospect of dearer UK borrowing costs now the referendum is out of the way was one factor limiting the gains. Trevor Greetham at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, said:

The impact on the overall stock market [from the no vote] isn't as large as you might expect as the many exporters in the FTSE stand to lose out from a stronger currency even as the financials with Scottish links bounce back.

There were other downward pressures. Away from the UK, investors continued to be concerned about the timing of a rise in US interest rates, the continuing dispute with Russia over Ukraine and the prospect of a slowdown in China's economy. Metal prices came under pressure since China is a key consumer of commodities, helping push metal prices and thus mining shares lower.

Rio Tinto lost 50.5p to £31.79, Randgold Resources fell 75p to £43.55 and BHP Billiton was 23p lower at 1793.5p.

Back in the world of City recommendations, equipment rental group Ashtead added 24p to £10.59 after Credit Suisse issued an outperform rating with a target price of £12.20, up from £11.50. The bank raised its pretax profit estimates for 2015 to 2017 by 6% and added:

We expect Ashtead to deliver an earnings per share compound annual growth rate of around 25% over the next five years, driven by an end-market recovery in the US non-residential sector, a continued structural shift to rental, further market share gains, a clear depot roll-out programme and further fleet growth at existing stores. In addition, Ashtead's profitability and returns look set to improve even further... Ashtead's size and balance sheet strength provide a key competitive advantage, and further out we see record low levels of leverage providing scope for significant cash return to shareholders.

Among the mid caps, Domino Printing closed 51.5p higher at 606p after the barcode printing specialist said sales in the ten months to the end of August had risen 9% on an underlying basis or by 4% at constant exchange rates. Analyst Michael Blogg at Investec said:

Constant-currency sales growth of 9%...represents a faster rate than most Industrial companies are currently reporting. Orders and sales of digital colour label printers are building up as expected. Even with the prospect of price competition and additional investment flattening earnings next year, this remains an attractive story to us. We have not changed either our estimates or target price [of 650p] and remain positive on the shares.

Russian steelmaker Evraz, controlled by Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich, rose 4.6p to 145p after the company said it was considering a US flotation of its north American assets. It said:

Any offering would commence after the SEC [regulator] completes its review process, which would be initiated by the filing of a registration document.

Finally, a day with a major news event would not be the same without a couple of Aim warnings to keep it compa. Stepping up to the plate were Clean Air Power, down 34% at 3.125p, and Surgical Innovations, 31% lower at 3p.