Around the World's Markets: London

FOOTSIE MADE modest headway during Chancellor Gordon Brown's Budget speech. It stood 12.9 points higher when he started and was up 28.9 at 6,237.7 at the close, shortly before he finished. Supporting indices were firm.

WPP, the advertising group, rose on speculative demand and positive stockbroker comment. Dixons went to a 1,268p peak on the British Retail Consortium's upbeat comments on electrical sales and the Budget "computers for all" initiative. Derek Pain, page 17