LONDON -- Having only just broken the 6,200 level yesterday, the FTSE 100 (INDEX: ^FTSE) is now heading steadily for 6,300, standing 10 points higher to 6,275 as of 9:40 a.m. EST. Will it make it by the end of the week? With half a day to go, I wouldn't bet against it.

Growing optimism from China has been partly behind recent market optimism, though Japan is still suffering from deflation, with a consumer price index of -0.1% having just been reported.

Companies within the various FTSE indexes continue to push upward. We look at three responding well to good news today.

Charles Stanley (CAY)
Charles Stanley Group shares are up 1.6% today to 334 pence after the investment firm released an interim update covering the three months to Dec. 31 and on to Jan. 25. The company now has client funds to the tune of 16.4 billion pounds under management, up 4.6% from 15.6 billion pounds at the end of September.

Revenue for the third quarter was up 13.5% to 31.1 million pounds, although that is in comparison with a poor quarter last year. For the nine months, revenue was up 3.4%. A fairly flat year overall is expected this year, but there is strong earnings growth forecast for the next two years.

Globo (LSE: GBO)
Mobile telecom services provider Globo saw its shares bounce 9.4% to 30.35 pence this morning. They're up more than 50% since mid-December. The driver today was a trading update for the year to Dec. 31, which told of market-beating performance. Revenue is expected to be up about 28% to 58 million euros, with EBITDA expected to rise by 42% to at least 29 million euros.

Forecasts for the next two years are pretty strong, too, but it's going to be back to the drawing board for the analysts now -- and it looks like the only way they can revise their expectations is upwards.

Brightside (LSE: BRT)
Shares in Brightside Group have risen 0.6% to 22.25 pence on the release of a trading update ahead of full-year results. The AIM-listed insurance broker "expects to report significant growth in turnover and profit in line with market expectations," with total policy sales up 5% on the previous year.

Brightside has reported nice earnings growth over the past few years, with forecasts for this year suggesting a 45% jump in earnings per share. There's a 2% dividend yield expected from shares on a price-to-earnings ratio of only 7.4.

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