Steelmaker and foundry mould maker Cookson lived up to its new name today when it spurted up more than 9 per cent.

Investors in the world's second-biggest listed oil group were yesterday left shell-shocked after news of a 60 per cent fall in profits. Royal Dutch Shell's second-quarter results were 23 per cent below analysts' consensus forecasts and Richard Curr, head of dealing at broker Prime Markets, said they "came totally out of the blue".

The City was hoping it would not wake up with a hangover today after booze and fag sellers boosted the blue-chip index yesterday to the highest point in a week. Good results from British American Tobacco, spirits giant Diageo and Belgian-based beer group AB InBev pushed peers SAB Miller and Imperial Tobacco towards the top of the table.

News of a high court claim against African Barrick Gold over the deaths of Tanzanians tarnished its shares on a day when it revealed $185m of cost cuts.

Banks have disappointed government and they have disappointed the public, and yesterday Barclays disappointed the City. This time, the crushing disappointment wasn’t due to mis- selling or big bonuses – Barclays yesterday frustrated the Square Mile when it emerged it will pursue a £5bn-plus rights issue to plug the perceived hole in its balance sheet that the Bank of England’s capital requirements have revealed.

Few will admit error and face the music. Instead, they double down and make further bets

Rolls-Royce enjoyed a day of flying high on Thursday after the aircraft engine maker reported first-half results ahead of expectations. But the shares went into a nosedive yesterday, following a downgrade from Deutsche Bank.

On a day when traders' screens turned red and the market dived more than 30 points, Shire was breaking records.

Thirsty traders were diving into the pubs group JD Wetherspoon as the heatwave helped to sell more pints and glasses of Pimm's. Wetherspoon raised its profit guidance for the year and the chairman and founder, Tim Martin, said he was "more bullish" after the positive period.

A decision out of South Korea to use microchips designed in Cambridge rather than Kings Langley in Hertfordshire caused Imagination Technologies to tumble to the bottom spot on the mid cap index yesterday.

As the UK was braced for tropical weather with storms on the way, punters decided a bet on an oil explorer in the Bahamas was appropriate yesterday. Bahamas Petroleum gushed as much as 20 per cent in morning trade on news that it had got its licences renewed and extended by the Bahamas Government and the Ministry of the Environment.

James Thompson

Heatwaves across the UK and the US warmed up interest in energy group National Grid yesterday.

Frankfurt rarely issues diktats that are helpful to the UK’s banks, but yesterday a rule change meant that taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland was the order of the day for investors. News of a change to the way the European Central Bank views loans on banks’ balance sheets helped RBS up nearly 4 per cent.