FTSE sees gains
The London market made steady gains today in the wake of a positive finish for leading stocks in New York last night.
Vodafone added to the positive sentiment by adding almost 2% to help the FTSE 100 Index stand 36.2 points higher at 5785.9 by mid-morning.
Yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 92 points higher after mixed data from the US economy cooled inflation and interest rate fears.
The gain of 2.25p to 127p for Vodafone came as investors continued to warm to the mobile phone giant in the wake of its results and strategy update on Tuesday. Shares started the week at 119.75p.
Attention was also focused on BAA and Yellow Pages owner Yell after gains of more than 2% for both stocks.
BAA rose 24.5p to 902.5p as the Takeover Panel set a deadline of next week for Goldman Sachs to declare whether it will launch a rival offer for the airports operator. Yell gained 12.5p to 516p after it emerged shareholders had backed the proposed £2.3bn (€3.3bn) acquisition of Spanish directory publisher TPI.
Investors also saw a further rise for steel company Corus following speculation yesterday that Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich could be preparing to buy a stake. Corus shares were up 2% last night and were ahead another 2% or 8.5p to 406.5p today.
Elsewhere, mining shares struggled for direction for once, with Kazakhmys up 20p at 1118p but Xstrata down 3p to 2054p.
Shares in GlaxoSmithKline were also lower, down 5p at 1835p, as investors reacted to speculation that it could make an £8bn (€11.6bn) offer for Pfizer’s consumer healthcare arm.
In the second tier, Northern Foods shares were more than 5% lower, down 5p at 88.25p, after Deutsche Bank lowered its guidance on the stock in the wake of its restructuring on Wednesday.
