Footsie builds on early gains
Positive momentum from across the Atlantic was holding the FTSE 100 Index above the key 4600 barrier today.
Pharmaceutical groups were among those helping move the Footsie 26.8 points higher to 4610.2 by lunchtime.
On a relatively slow day for corporate news, the market was lifted by last night’s performance by the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which climbed 138 points.
US firms produced some mixed results yesterday, with good numbers from Halliburton and Lockheed Martin helping sentiment, but chip stocks including Intel losing value during the session.
A rising conviction that a probe into the insurance industry will end quickly underpinned progress on the other side of the Atlantic, although analysts were tipping the index to open slightly lower today.
In London, drugs group Shire Pharmaceuticals was the highest riser after winning approval of US regulators for its Fosrenol treatment for patients with severe kidney disease. Shares rose nearly 4% or 18.25p to 540p.
Shares in supermarket chain Sainsbury’s were also advancing, up 1.25p at 252.75p, as the possibility that it may face a takeover bid continued to sway investors.
But consumer products giant Unilever slipped 3.5p to 446p after revealing that sales of its top 400 brands shrank by 1% in the third quarter.
Elsewhere, water group South Staffs gushed more than 13% higher or 130p to 1095p after directors backed a £142.6 million takeover offer from a group of Middle Eastern investors.
Speculation that the deal could herald an era of consolidation in the water industry boosted shares in a clutch of rivals, with top-flight stock Severn Trent up 14p to 915.5p and Anglian Water owner AWG ahead 8p at 728p.
Drugs group Warner Chilcott lifted 4% – up 34p to 871p – after giving its blessing to a £1.62 billion takeover by a private equity consortium.
Tour operator First Choice Holidays advanced half a penny to 131.5p after hailing its increased focus on long-haul holidays as it reported a surge in early bookings.
But energy group Centrica dropped a penny to 237.25p after saying it had bought a gas exploration firm holding a 50% stake in gas fields in the North Sea.
And food group Geest weakened 1.5p to 551.5p after saying it had launched a joint business with a chicken supplier to produce meals using raw ingredients that are cooked by the consumer rather than being heated up.
