Polymetal shines as market recovers lustre Polymetal scotched suggetions it was in talks, saying it was "not engaged in any discussion with Polyus with regards to [a] proposed transaction between the company and Polyus." But that denial did not stop Polymetal leaping 83p to £11.52. M&A murmurings aside, there was much to help the miners as a pledge by America's Federal Reserve to support economic growth fuelled the sector. Ben Bernanke, the bank's chairman, signalled that interest rates will be kept low through to 2014 and left the door open for another round of money-printing. Vedanta Resources leapt 100p to £12.52, pipping Polymetal to the gold medal whilst Kazakhmys added 81p to £11.94 as the copper miner posted annual production figures that were in line with its target. Randgold Resources was 345p brighter at £71.70 despite JP Morgan Cazenove cutting its rating on the gold producer to "neutral." Amongst the second-liners, Petropavlovsk climbed 75½ to 772p after the gold miner said output this year could rise 11pc. A rally from the miners prompted the FTSE 100 to flirt with the 5,800 mark, finally closing up 72.2 points to 5,795.2 while the FTSE 250 jumped 160.43 points to 10,908.82. Anticipation that Greece could be close to a deal on its debt, averting the risk of a disorderly default, lifted the banks. Lloyds Banking Group put on and 1.9 to 32.83p and Royal Bank of Scotland advanced 0.92 to 27.67p. Away from the banks and miners, easyJet soared 41.7 to 445½p as revenues at the no-frills airline were lifted by an increasing number of business travellers flying with the low-cost carrier. Blue-chip rival International Airlines Group, which owns Iberia and British Airways, also climbed 8.3 to 180p. Earlier this week, there had been suggestions that the business could take a stake in alliance partner, American Airlines. Back in November, the US group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and rival airlines, as well as private equity firms, are whispered to be considering a tilt at the carrier. With HSBC upping its price target to £23.75 from £22.50, Johnson Matthey, which supplies catalytic converters, drove up 80p to £20.90. But, a couple of retailers found themselves on the losing side of the index. J Sainsbury stood a ha'penny lower at 289.2p while its supermarket peer, Wm Morrison, dropped 3.6 to 292.1p as the chain snapped up the leases of ten former Best Buy stores from Carphone Warehouse. Morrisons is going to spend £15m converting them into stores hosting its Kiddicare brand. Amongst the mid-caps, Greggs was flat at 509p as Liberum reiterated its "sell" rating on the pureyor of pasties and sandwiches. Analysts were worried by a surge in demand for plastic lunch boxes at Morrisons, raising the prospect that cash-strapped consumers are perhaps taking a packed lunch to work, rather than buying their sandwiches from the likes of Greggs. Joining the retailers were defensives such as Imperial Tobacco, which lost 10p to £22.53 despite a reheating of rumours that Japan Tobacco might form a consortium bid for the maker of Gauloises cigarettes. Analysts at Oriel suggested that interest in Imperial should focus on "fundamentals." "There is clear potential for its Total Tobacco approach to deliver more, emerging markets to become more important for revenue and profits and for innovations to have a greater impact on brand performance," said the broker. Satellite broadcaster, BSkyB also missed out on the rally. Cutting their rating to "equal-weight," Barclays Capital analysts echoed comments made elsewhere in the City this year as they highlighted concerns around the forthcoming auction for rights to broadcast Premier League football games and the advent of websites streaming television and films. But while BSkyB eased a penny to 671½p, its stablemate, ITV, advanced 2.25 to 77.45p. Punters were piling into the online casino, 32Red. After posting record revenues of £25m, it leapt 4.25 to 46p. Earlier this week, 32Red trumped William Hill in a dispute over the latter's online casino, 32Vegas, which 32Red said infringed its own trademarks. After the High Court last year found in favour of 32Red, William Hill appealed this decision but on Tuesday, the Court of Appeal dismissed the betting giant's case. Pharmaceutical group, Proximagen, also jumped 13 to 136p as one of its partners - America's Upsher-Smith - more than doubled its stake to 16pc. Investors switch off Misys as profits fall Shares in Misys sank 6pc after the software company swung into the red at the half-year mark. Misys posted an interim pre-tax loss of £3.6m compared to an £18.8m profit last time and said it would make cost savings to keep it on track for the year. With Misys" products used by banks and businesses dealing in capital markets, the slide into the red reflects tough markets for its financial services customers. Mike Lawrie, Misys" chief executive, also said profits were hit by the cost of fixing quality issues in its Treasury and Capital markets products. Although Misys is seeing growth in markets such as the Middle East and has enjoyed good demand for its new products, the company has contingency plans to cut £6-8m of operating costs to support results this financial year. Misys fell 20.2 to 305.3p.