London close: Footsie buoyed by miners, M&A
Big gains on Wall Street, buoyant miners and takeover speculation helped London to close high on Friday.
Alliance Boots reiterated its recommendation of the Stefano Pessina and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts offer but said it will provide a rival consortium, which includes Guy Hands' Terra Firma, 'high level due diligence' following their 1,115p counter proposal.
Miners also surged ahead as copper prices increased. Vedanta Resources, Antofagasta, Xstrata, Lonmin and Kazakhmys all did well.
Standard Chartered recovered along with Asian markets as concern over the runaway growth of the Chinese economy eases.
Housebuilder Taylor Woodrow rose on a report that Persimmon is about to muscle into its merger plan with Wimpey.
Barclays was also up after a report today suggested HSBC is interested in buying ABN Amro's Brazilian operation, which might improve Barclays' chances of success with its offer for the Dutch bank.
Vodafone moved higher on speculation about the possible sale of its Verizon Wireless stake.
On the downside, beverages were among the fallers, including Mitchells & Butlers and Scottish and Newcastle.
WH Smith came in for some attention as both Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse lifted their price targets on the newsagent and bookseller following yesterday's first half results.
The German broker kept its 'hold' recommendation on Smith shares, but raised its target to 425p as it reckons the company will continue to grow its motorway service station presence.
In economic news, UK retail sales growth slowed last month, according to data from ONS, but the Bank of England is not expected to shy away from a rate rise in May.
Sales rose 0.3% in March from February versus expectations of a 0.6% increase and down on the previous month's upwardly revised 1.6% jump, the strongest rise in over two years.
Elsewhere, greetings card retailer Clinton Cards said like-for-like sales in its Clinton brand shops rose by 2.4% and by 2.6% in its Birthdays stores in the 26 weeks to end January. Pre-tax profits rose from £17.2m to £20.2m. The interim dividend rises by 10.8%.
Ad giant WPP's first-quarter like-for-like revenues increased 4.3%, slightly below market forecasts, while reportable revenues down 0.7% to £1.366bn disappointed.
The firm said there had been some softness in the US in the last few months offset by improvements in Western Europe. The UK was better but remains the slowest growing region in the group. Operating margins and profitability were in line with budget.
Shopping centre group Liberty's subsidiary, Capital Shopping Centres agreed to sell GIC Real Estate a 40% stake in the MetroCentre, Gateshead for £426m.
Away from the front rank, Trace soared on a management buy-out worth £20m or 135p per share, but Dialight fell after the traffic light sensor technology specialist warned sales are sluggish and profits will be £1.3m below forecasts.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Alliance Boots (AB.) 1,125.00p +7.19%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,528.00p +3.95%
Xstrata (XTA) 2,778.00p +2.89%
Lonmin (LMI) 3,458.00p +2.79%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,411.00p +2.69%
Next (NXT) 2,243.00p +2.47%
Old Mutual (OML) 176.50p +2.14%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,175.00p +2.09%
Vodafone (VOD) 143.10p +2.00%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 519.75p +1.86%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,224.00p -2.47%
Man Group (EMG) 555.50p -1.51%
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Smith and Nephew (SN.) 618.50p -1.36%
Reuters Group (RTR) 487.25p -0.66%
Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) 2,653.00p -0.64%
Scottish and Newcastle (SCTN) 571.50p -0.52%
Hammerson (HMSO) 1,560.00p -0.45%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 789.00p -0.44%
Prudential (PRU) 742.00p -0.40%
Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) 829.50p -0.36%
FTSE 250 - Risers
PartyGaming (PRTY) 55.00p +5.77%
Wincanton (WIN) 394.75p +5.27%
CSR (CSR) 730.00p +4.73%
Warner Estate (WNER) 790.00p +3.95%
Galiform (GFRM) 166.00p +3.75%
JPMorgan European Investment Trust Growth Shares (JETG) 242.75p +3.52%
British Assets Trust (BSET) 148.25p +3.49%
Filtrona PLC (FLTR) 273.50p +3.40%
Dunedin Income Growth Trust (DIG) 278.00p +3.35%
Collins Stewart (CLST) 252.75p +3.16%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Bodycote (BOY) 307.00p -3.61%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,098.00p -1.70%
Millennium & Copthorne (MLC) 688.00p -1.15%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 374.50p -1.12%
FKI (FKI) 117.50p -1.05%
Premier Farnell (PFL) 217.75p -1.02%
Northgate (NTG) 1,167.00p -1.02%
Mapeley (MAY) 3,820.00p -0.98%
JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 309.00p -0.96%
Jardine Lloyd (JLT) 435.00p -0.91%
