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London shares close higher:Posted By: Mark Smith LONDON (AFP) - Leading shares closed higher, following Wall Street's lead, as M&A rumours continued to flood the market, with BG rising over 4 percent on renewed bid hopes, dealers said.At the close on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 index was up 23.5 points at 5,959.2, with the broader indices all higher. Volume was solid, with 2.9 billion shares changing hands in 308,464 deals. Vodafone was the most traded stock, seeing 463 million units change hands, followed by BP which saw 67.6 shares switch owners. On Wall Street, US stocks rebounded following heavy losses Tuesday, amid some optimism the economy and corporate earnings will show resilience in the face of a Federal Reserve bent on preserving a flexible interest-rate policy to combat inflation. At London's close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 18.9 points at 11,173.4 after falling nearly 100 points in the prior session. The benchmark index still remains on course to post one of its best quarters in two years. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 10.34 points at 2,315.18, while the S&P 500 Index rose 4 points to 1,297.25. Back in London, BG gained 21 pence -- or 4.34 percent -- to finish at 734, despite trading ex-dividend, after a report in The Independent claimed it could be the subject of a 900 pence per share bid from ExxonMobil. The US giant could be attracted by BG's E&P interests in Kazakhstan. The continued strength of crude oil futures helped Royal Dutch Shell shares add 19 at 1,863, BP gain 5.50 at 668.50, and Cairn Energy take on 25 at 2,160. M&A hopes also lifted Centrica, which shrugged off news of a downgrade to 'underweight' by JP Morgan to edge 75 pence higher at 285, encouraged by fresh rumours Gazprom is poised to bid for the utility group. The rumour mill also benefited Alliance & Leicester, up 11 pence to 1,190 on suggestions that Spain's Banco Santander could make a bid for the UK mortgage lender at around 1,350 pence per share. Dealers also noted rumours that Citibank could make a 2,600 pence bid for Royal Bank of Scotland, which pushed the shares 12 pence higher at 1,852. Away from M&A talk, Intercontinental Hotels gained 27.50 pence -- or 3.05 percent -- to stand at 928, after UBS upgraded the stock to 'buy from 'neutral', with the target price lifted to 1,130 pence, from 930 previously. The broker suggested that a potential buyout of the firm could weigh in at 1,400 pence. Meanwhile, a better-than-expected trading update boosted Sainsbury, 5.25 pence higher at 332.25, after the UK's third-largest food retailer revealed underlying sales rose for a fifth consecutive quarter, surpassing expectations. In a statement, Sainsbury said same-store sales, excluding fuel, leapt 5.3 percent in the 12 weeks to March 25 year-on-year against expectations of 3.8 percent growth. Rival Morrison dropped 4.25 pence -- or 2.18 percent -- to end at 190.75. Among the other fallers, Tate & Lyle shed 10.50 to 575.50 after the food manufacturer warned it is facing a substantial impairment charge on assets worth about 750 million pounds due to European sugar reforms. The group said the planned EU changes would hit the profits of individual operating units within its business and would result in a review of those operations' assets. In response, Merrill Lynch reiterated its 'sell' recommendation. Heavyweight miner Kazakhmys was also hit as copper prices softened overnight. The shares were down 8.50 at 953.50, ahead of results tomorrow. Ex-dividend factors weighed on the index, with Scottish & Newcastle the biggest bluechip faller, down 17 pence -- or 3.12 percent -- to end at 528; Amvescap falling 5.50 pence at 545; and BSkyB off 2.50 pence at 540.50. Courtesy Of: Yahoo! News The information reported above is property of Yahoo! inc. and reprinted or modified with legitimate permission. We thank Yahoo! inc. for the kind cooperation with us and other shareholders. |
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