London Breaches 6,000 Level

Ivaylo
29 Sep, 2006
New York City

This is its highest level since the index slipped a 10 % correction mode in May and took its gains for the week to more than 3%. With the Dow Jones briefly overtaking its record closing high overnight, the FTSE 100 reached 6,002.9 in morning trade.By late morning, though, profit taking was witnessed already, and the index was 10.60 points higher, or 0.18%. Mining stocks led the advancers with Antofagasta in the lead.

[R]9:30AM The FTSE hits 6,000 level on global market strength and miners.[/R]
The FTSE 100 was 10.60 points higher, or 0.18%, at 5,981.90 at 2.23pm GMT.

Advancers

The key advancers were the mining stocks, with Antofagasta up 1.3%. Man Group, the hedge fund, also advanced supported by a bullish first-half forecast. It rose 3.6% after it said it expected profit for the six months to be ahead of consensus market expectations.

Bid stories were also in focus. Hanson, the building materials group that is rumoured to be a takeover target for Cemex of Mexico rose a further 1.3%. This took its gain over the week to more than 11%.

In the mid-caps, Britvic led the advance, up 5.5%, after the soft drinks group said it expected results for the year to be towards the top end of market expectations. Forth Ports, owner of Grangemouth and larger swathes of Edinburgh Leith docks, jumped 4.5% on continued rumours that Macquarie of Australia and the UBS infastructure team were planning to bid for the company.

Decliners

Standard Chartered was 1.3% lower as the emerging markets-focused bank announced plans for a $1.2bn equity placing to fund the acquisition of Hsinchu International Bank of Taiwan. HMV lost 2% as dealers reacted to lacklustre trading update form the music and book group in the previous session. Citigroup cut its rating on the stock

Emap fell 2.6% after the media group said that trading conditions remained tough and it expected first-half underlying revenue to decline 2%. Bridgewell Securities cut its rating on the stock.

Other news

Standard Chartered, the Asian-focused UK bank, has launched a tender offer to buy Hsinchu International Bank, a mid-sized Taiwanese lender, for $1.2 billion in a powerful sign that bank valuations on the island have fallen to a level attractive enough for global suitors.

The hot, dry summer led to a better-than-expected interim performance at the Anglian Water business of AWG, which is a bid target of a four-member consortium.