Yule Catto dives by 22pc on profit warning Overall, the FTSE 100 leapt 76.96 points to 5,523.92 and the FTSE 250 jumped 86.61 points to 10,751.98 following better-than-expected US economic data. The positive US durable goods and pending home sales data lifted those companies, such as building material businesses, with a large exposure to the US market. CRH put on 46p to £11.32 and Wolseley perked up 81p to £22.94. A firmer oil price helped the likes of BG Group and Tullow Oil perform well. BG Group put on 46½p to £12.56 and Tullow advanced 42p to £14.37. Deutsche Bank published a "buy" note on WPP, which boosted the shares by 11½ to 754½p. Analysts at Deutsche Bank said: "Clearly, macro [economic] uncertainty will overhang for now, but we believe WPP offers investors a low-risk way of retaining cyclical exposure at what we see as close to a trough valuation. Advertising sentiment globally is subdued at present, but we believe this can improve at short notice depending on how the European macro situation plays out. Standard Chartered led a rebound in banking stocks, climbing 4.1p to £13.75 as the lender reiterated its forecast for profit in 2012. Elsewhere in the banking sector, Lloyds Banking Group rose 1 to 31.1p and HSBC put on 13.6 to 573p. UBS gave Smith & Nephew a push, arguing improving profit margins at the business may help the company deliver better-than-expected figures at its second-quarter trading update on August 2. The shares edged up 3½ to 621p. On a less positive tack, Evraz - the steelmaker part-owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich - sank 7.4 to 248.9p after German rival Salzgitter AG said it can no longer forecast that its steel division will break even this year. On the mid-cap index, Man Group rebounded from a two-day sell off after the world's largest publicly traded hedge fund manager said the net asset value of its Man AHL Diversified fund increased 1.1pc last week, boosted by "bearish positioning" in commodities and stocks. Man Group rose 0.9 to 72.9p. Dixons Retail was helped by an upbeat note from UBS. "Increasingly investors are being convinced that Dixons will be able to repay its 2012 bond from existing facilities and this is letting them look at the longer-term fundamentals," said Adam Cochrane, an analyst at UBS. Dixons perked up 0.6 to 17.8p. Northgate, a provider of leased vans in Spain and the UK, jumped 30½ to 209p as the company reported an increase in pre-tax profit and said it will pay its first dividend since 2009. Halma advanced 1.9 to 415.1p despite JP Morgan Cazenove downgrading the company to "neutral." "We recognise the group's attraction in an uncertain macro environment but, following recent share price strength, we see Halma's qualities as adequately captured in the stock's premium rating," said Andrew Wilson, an analyst at JP Morgan Cazenove. Debt-laden life insurer Phoenix Group will get £200m windfall from a deal to transfer 300,000 retirement policies to private equity-owned rival Guardian Financial Services. Phoenix said the transfer would reduce the risk of an unforeseen financial hit in the event customers live longer than expected. The agreement boosts Phoenix's cash by freeing up regulatory capital set aside to cover potential investment or longevity-related losses on the annuity portfolio. Phoenix, valued at about £800m but weighed down by £2.1bn of debt, is striving to bolster its finances as it pursues talks to reschedule repayments to its banks. The company, set up to buy life insurers that are closed to new business and merge them into a more profitable whole, hopes banks will also agree to a relax a cap on dividend payments.Phoenix rose 15.7 to 475¾p.