London close: Top stocks close at 7-year highs
London's top stocks closed around 7-year highs, helped by strong miners, M&A news and a stellar start on Wall Street.
US stocks surged ahead in early deals as a reading on inflation doused fears of a possible rate rise any time soon. Benchmark Dow Jones is currently up 107 points.
In London, J Sainsbury finished high after Qatari investment group Delta (Two) bought another 123m shares in supermarket chain, or 7.07% of the company, increasing its stake to 25%.
Wm Morrison and Tesco are both well ahead in sympathy, while pub groups that also have large property interests are also going well.
Miners also surged with Lonmin and Anglo American posting gains, although Drax tumbled after Goldman Sachs lowered the power station operator to 'neutral' from 'buy'.
Oil majors are well ahead on a sharp spike in the oil price following the trouble in Middle East. BP and Shell are up.
Engine maker Rolls-Royce said it has been selected by Dassault Aviation to supply its next generation Falcon super mid-size business jets with a new engine in the 10,000 pound thrust range.
Carpetright shot forward after it confirmed press speculation that chairman and chief executive Lord Harris was contemplating making an offer for the carpet and floor covering specialist.
Troubled music group Sanctuary has agreed a takeover bid of 20p per share in cash from Centenary, part of French group Vivendi. The offer values Sanctuary at approximately £44.5m.
Software group firm Microgen has raised its offer for rival Trace from 155p to 180p, valuing it at £25.6m. The revised bid trumps a rival offer worth 156p from Tulip Holdings.
Biodiesel group D1 Oils says it is in advanced discussions with certain parties regarding a strategic collaboration, but adds that there is no certainty that any transaction will be forthcoming.
Natural healthcare products supplier William Ransom reported rising full year profits this morning and said it looks forward to another year of good organic growth.
Austrian firm Wienerberger claimed victory in its attempt to buy Baggeridge Brick after raising its offer again, to 247p, which it says is its final bid. The board of Michelmersh later confirmed that it would not proceed with an offer.
Online auctioneer QXL Ricardo is lower on the placing of 17% of the group by owners Florissant and the Izaki group, which still own around a third of the group.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Lonmin (LMI) 4,169.00p +4.83%
Wolseley (WOS) 1,328.00p +4.57%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 590.00p +4.42%
Shire (SHP) 1,223.00p +4.09%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,163.00p +3.54%
Unilever (ULVR) 1,594.00p +2.97%
Old Mutual (OML) 177.90p +2.83%
Invesco (IVZ) 620.50p +2.82%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 160.20p +2.76%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,591.00p +2.71%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Drax (DRX) 763.50p -1.36%
Cadbury Schweppes (CBRY) 709.50p -0.77%
Northern Rock (NRK) 1,016.00p -0.49%
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Tate & Lyle (TATE) 582.50p -0.26%
ITV (ITV) 113.70p -0.26%
Compass Group (CPG) 371.00p 0.00%
WPP Group (WPP) 741.50p 0.00%
Rexam (REX) 510.50p 0.00%
Alliance Boots (AB.) 1,128.50p +0.04%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,358.00p +0.07%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Carpetright (CPR) 1,340.00p +30.60%
Helical Bar (HLCL) 468.50p +7.83%
Workspace Group (WKP) 436.25p +6.99%
Topps Tiles (TPT) 255.00p +6.69%
Assura Group (AGR) 245.00p +6.52%
BlueBay (BBAY) 562.50p +6.03%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 4,450.00p +5.78%
Morgan Sindall (MGNS) 1,614.00p +5.63%
Merchants Trust (MRCH) 545.00p +5.01%
Beazley Group (BEZ) 151.00p +4.86%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Laird Group (LARD) 577.00p -2.37%
Greggs (GRG) 5,234.00p -1.78%
Weir Group (WEIR) 645.00p -1.75%
Detica (DCA) 398.75p -1.73%
UK Coal (UKC) 511.25p -1.68%
SVG Capital (SVI) 895.00p -1.32%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 634.00p -1.17%
Charter (CHTR) 1,004.50p -1.03%
Rightmove (RMV) 609.00p -0.98%
Aggreko (AGK) 562.50p -0.97%
