FTSE 100 insurers in demand on strong earnings The trend for well-received earnings news continued in London on Tuesday, helping send Standard Life to the top of a resurgent FTSE 100. The insurer reported a 28 per cent rise in annual operating profit of £544m, significantly ahead of forecasts of £476m. The growth was driven by a strong performance within its Canadian division, where profit rose 70 per cent. Standard Life lifted its total dividend for the year by 6.2 per cent to 13.8p. Its shares rose 2.7 per cent to 243.9p, extending a rally of about 16 per cent since the start of 2012. "The company are upbeat on the outlook for business highlighting the good performance of the UK fee business, which they see as the future, and further efficiency gains," Marcus Barnard, analyst at Oriel Securities, said. This is reflected in the growth in the dividend, one of the best dividend growth rates seen in the sector. Prudential rose 1.9 per cent to 741½p after it reported a 7 per cent rise in annual operating profit of £2bn, meeting forecasts. Its Asian division was the biggest contributor to group profit for the first time, and made up about 45 per cent of the company's sales. The fresh gains added to a rise for the stock of about 12 per cent since the start of 2012. The numbers were good enough to help Prudential and Standard Life's peers and there were robust gains right across the sector. Aviva rose 1.2 per cent to 360.8p and Legal & General made gains of 1.1 per cent to 122½p. Resolution was also 1.1 per cent higher at 267.8p. As risk appetite improved across global markets, the banking and mining sectors both rallied, helping the FTSE 100 rise 28 points to 5,920.23, a rise of 0.5 per cent. It was the first time the benchmark index rose above 5,900 in five sessions. James A Hyerczyk, analyst at Autochartist, said: "At the time the index was trading in the middle-to-upper 5900 area, volume was close to 1bn shares per day. In hindsight, this turned out to be a sign that liquidation was taking place after trading almost sideways during February ... Based on the short-term chart pattern, it looks as if investors are trying to build a support base. Antofagasta missed out on the rally in the mining sector amid disappointment at the size of its special dividend payment. The Chilean copper miner said it would pay out $0.24 per share, making a total payout of $0.44 for 2011, down from the $1 per share of 2010. Its stock fell 2.8 per cent to £12.36.