(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) London’s top share gauge crept above the 6600 mark as takeover talk and higher oil prices kept traders busy at the start of the half-day session.
It was a decent enough start for the FTSE 100 which was predicted to open flat and fall short of the fireworks seen in the US.
The Wall Street rally sparked by unexpectedly strong US GDP growth sent the Dow steaming past 18000 for the first time and finishing at a new record high last night.
At least some of the US euphoria seems to have rippled across the Atlantic as London’s equity benchmark was 7 points to the good at 6608 as the market's last session before Christmas began.
Merger talk and gains for Brent crude contributed to most of the gains.
Smith and Nephew () soared 9% to top the FTSE 100 as reports emerged that US firm Stryker is planning a takeover offer for UK medical device maker.
Brent crude gave up some of its gains made overnight and headed back down to US$61 a barrel.
Still the likes of () and () stayed higher.
House builders were under pressure yesterday with weak UK growth figures sending shares down.
Today though there was a rebound with (TW.) and Barratt () Developments both adding close to 1%.
() was unable to made group as gold stayed around the US$1180 an ounce mark.
Shares in ’s former pharmaceuticals business the heroin substitute specialist now known as Indivior (LON:INDV) slumped 4% after the recent demerger.
In the AIM world shares in () shot up 21%. The firm said has received a request for more information from the Russian government as part of its production licence application at the Kun-Manie nickel deposit.
Chariot Oil & Gas’s () shot up 22% as it said its farm-out of a stake in the Rabat Deep project offshore Morocco has been approved by the authorities.
Deltex Medical’s () end of year update delivered an early Christmas present to shareholders in the form of a contract win. But shares tanked 25% as it looks likely the company’s sales will fall below the range of market expectations.
Tungsten miner () lost 12% as it said production this month (Dec) at the La Parrilla operations in Spain had been impacted by heavy rain and cold but it expects to return to target output early in the new year.
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