(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors - UK) Deal news boosted security and services firm Westminster Group PLC on Thursday while rising oil prices lifted the wider market.
Shares in Westminster soared nearly 130% to 12.63p as it received a letter of intent from an unidentified Middle East airport authority relating to a long-term airport security contract.
The potential deal is expected to generate more than 30mln in revenue for Westminster's aviation security service business, prompting the company to brand it as a 'major growth opportunity.'
Westminster also said it did not believe it would need a separate general meeting to approve a potential share restructuring which it is discussing with several financing partners.
It said it now expected to put the proposals to its annual general meeting on June 30.
Miners kept the FTSE 100 Index in positive territory on Thursday as a drop in oil stockpiles drove crude prices above US50 a barrel.
The Footsie advanced 3.3 points to 6266 and the FTSE AIM All-Share rose a point to 734.54, while the FTSE AIM 100 pared losses to stand 2.8 points ahead at 3451.
The big miners dominated the ranks of top-flight risers as Brent crude drilled through the US$50 psychological barrier for the first time in six months.
Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN) was top with a 4% gain to 138.7p, followed by BHP Billiton plc (LON:BHP) up 3.8%, Chile's Antofagasta plc (LON:ANTO) 3.5% ahead and Anglo American putting on 3.3% to 640.4p.
Analysts at Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) said: 'A combination of strong demand data and unplanned supply outages have finally pushed the Brent oil price back through US$50 a barrel a level last seen in October 2015 and up 80% from the low point in January.
'The reality is that the market is seeing an underlying rebalancing and there is an increasingly clear shortfall in capacity in 2018/2019. As such we continue to see US$60 a barrel as a reasonable assumption.'
Sunrise Resources Plc (LON:SRES) spurted 31.7% to 0.19p on news of a 300,000 share placing and subscription to speed up development of its precious metal exploration programme in Nevada in the US.
Marshall Motor Holdings PLC (LON:MMH) revved up 36p, or 24%, to 187.5p following its 107mln acquisition of Ridgeway Garages (Newbury) Limited.
Ridgeway is a multi-franchise dealer group in the southern home counties of England, Wiltshire and Dorset, representing 12 brands via 30 franchised dealerships.
Stratmin Global Resources PLC (LON:STGR) strengthened 23% to 2p following news that Bass Metals was buying the graphite producer and explorer's 93.75% owned subsidiary, Graphmada Mauritius, for 8mln.
Pan African Resources plc (LON:PAF) hardened 11.8% to 14.25p as it acquired a further interest in Shanduka Gold.
And Management Resource Solutions PLC (LON:MRS) ticked up 9.6% to 10p after it won a 2.9mln contract to dismantle and demolish the Lyondell Basel Poly Plant Refinery in Clyde, New South Wales in Australia.
But brick and concrete product maker Ibstock PLC (LON:IBST) slipped nearly 9.8% to 201.7p after saying its UK clay business overall made a slower start to the year than expected due to destocking in the builders merchant supply chain.
Back among bigger stocks, Daily Mail & General Trust PLC (LON:DMGT) fell 11.3% to 660.5p after it said a weak print advertising market had hit its first-half results.
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Preview at 6.57am
FTSE 100 seen lower as equities rally takes a pause
London's FTSE 100 is seen slightly lower ahead of Thursday, as the equities rally apparently pauses for breath.
Brent Crude Oil prices finally breached the psychologically significant US$50 per barrel level.
Wall Street marked another positive session on Wednesday. The Dow Jones rose by 145 points, 0.8%, to 17,851.
The S & P 500 advanced 0.7% to 2,090, and the Nasdaq also gained 0.7% to end at 4,894.
Given the strength of the recent rally, perhaps its not surprising that investors are beginning to pause and potentially take profits.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.7% to 2,795. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.14% to 30,337. But, Japan's Nikkei strengthened by 0.4% to 16,830. Australia's ASX 200 added 0.3% to 5,389.
Brent crude futures climbed 2.9% to US$50.11, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures moved 2.5% higher to US$49.87 per barrel. Gold was up around 0.6% to US$1,230 an ounce.
In London, CFD and spreadbetting firm IG Markets sees the FTSE 100 10 points lower about an hour ahead of Thursday's open, calling the benchmark at 6,252 to 6,257.
Craig Erlam, analyst at OANDA, in a note said: 'Two days of decent gains appear to have taken their toll on European equity markets with futures pointing to a slightly softer open on Thursday.
'This appears to just be a case of profit taking from traders following what has been an unusually positive couple of days when compared with the rest of the month, which has been characterised by indecision and tight trading ranges.
'Given that we have two major risk events for the markets in the coming weeks EU referendum in the UK and possible rate hike from the Fed - I do wonder though whether this rally has the legs to build significantly on the moves of the last couple of days.'
IN FOCUS: UK Govt warned over Tata Steel pensions. A former pensions minister raised cautioned over plans to make quick changes to pensions laws amid the uncertainty surrounding troubled steel business, and said there would be an impact 'well beyond' steel.
IN FOCUS: Payday lenders customer complaints soar. Reports citing figures from the Financial Ombudsman say complaints among payday loan customers have tripled in the past year.
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