News

London's benchmark stocks managed to make some headway in late deals to close Friday's session modestly higher, despite subdued trade as traders left early for the long weekend.

Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus was one of the best performers on bid hopes, as traders cast an eye again ahead of results next week. Russia's Evraz and Serverstal have been touted as possible suitors.

The group also announced that it would increase its fourth quarter flat-rolled steel prices in Europe by between 5-7%, citing higher energy costs and stronger demand.

Lloyds TSB and Barclays were also ahead, sparked by renewed talk of a bid by Bank of America. A US TV station reported that BoA's CEO Kenneth Lewis had said it may be considering a transformational deal.

Mobile telecoms giant Vodafone was higher on news that it has agreed to sell its 25% stake in Belgian mobile phone operator Proximus to Belgacom for €2bn in cash.

Brewing giant SABMiller was unmoved after it announced that its Colombian subsidiary Bavaria will invest $175m in a new brewery in Yumbo, western Colombia, "to keep pace with growing demand in the region."

UK utility National Grid completed the acquisition, announced in February, of the Rhode Island assets of New England Gas Company from Southern Union Company. It will pay $498m cash and assume $77m of debt.

Xstrata closed the best riser on Friday, as its recent acquisition of Falconbridge continued to garner support, while traders have also been mentioning reports that the takeover will require a lower than expected rights issue.

Chilean copper miner Antofagasta also ended higher after Cazenove upped its stance on the shares to 'in-line' from 'underperform'. The group releases its first half earnings next Tuesday.

UBS also started coverage on miner Kazakhmys with a "buy" recommendation and a 1,450p price target.

Tin can maker Rexam was downgraded to "hold" from "buy" at Citigroup on valuation grounds after what it called an 'in line' set of results yesterday. The group led the fallers all day.

Prudential dropped back after Credit Suisse cut the life insurer to "neutral" from "outperform" with a reduced price target of 669p, citing concerns over growth at its UK life business and internet bank Egg.

Fund manager Henderson led the mid-cap risers after reporting a 23% increase in first half pre-tax profit, but said total assets under management fell 7% from December's figure.

Henderson Global Investors increased pre-tax profit for the six months to 30 June to £46.6m, mainly due to increases in management and performance fee income.

Project management and services group Amec said Samir Brikho will succeed Peter Mason as chief executive.

Down in the dumps software outfit iSoft rocketed after it agreed a new financing arrangement with its banks, although it reported a big loss after a one-off impairment charge.

Lombard Medical tumbled though after it said Boston Scientific will not be exercising its option to act as exclusive distributor of the company's Aorfix abdominal and thoracic stent grafts outside the US

Goodwin hit record highs today after the engineer reported a strong set of results with a 45% rise in pre-tax profit alongside a buoyant order book.

MicroFuze International, the specialist engineer, slumped today after it warned it would miss profit forecasts after delays.

Uruguay Mineral Exploration bounced off recent lows after it said it had exceeded the group's gold production target of 100,000 ounces per annum.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Xstrata (XTA) 2,338.00p 2.86%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,310.00p 1.71%
Schroders Nv (SDRC) 868.50p 1.70%
Corus Group (CS.) 403.50p 1.57%
Man Group (EMG) 427.25p 1.42%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,221.00p 1.41%
Vodafone (VOD) 112.25p 1.35%
BAE Systems (BA.) 363.00p 1.26%
British Energy Group (BGY) 663.00p 1.14%
BHP Billiton plc (BLT) 1,000.00p 1.11%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Rexam (REX) 538.25p -2.05%
Wolseley (WOS) 1,065.00p -1.02%
ITV (ITV) 104.25p -0.95%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 830.50p -0.89%
Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) 2,152.00p -0.83%
United Utilities (UU.) 672.50p -0.81%
Reed Elsevier (REL) 556.00p -0.80%
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 988.50p -0.75%
Royal & Sun Alliance (RSA) 134.00p -0.74%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,300.00p -0.69%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Henderson Group (HGI) 91.75p 11.21%
Cobham (COB) 171.00p 4.75%
JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 303.75p 4.74%
Wellington Underwriting (WUN) 94.00p 4.44%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 365.00p 3.99%
Premier Foods (PFD) 268.25p 3.77%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 127.50p 3.66%
Premier Oil (PMO) 1,029.00p 3.11%
Premier Farnell (PFL) 185.00p 2.64%
Victrex (VCT) 721.50p 2.34%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Interserve (IRV) 260.00p -5.02%
Avis Europe (AVE) 63.75p -3.77%
Charter (CHTR) 757.00p -1.69%
Savills (SVS) 509.00p -1.64%
SThree (STHR) 315.00p -1.64%
Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNN) 184.75p -1.60%
Homeserve (HSV) 1,736.00p -1.42%
St James's Place (STJ) 333.50p -1.40%
Dimension Data (DDT) 35.50p -1.39%
JPMorgan European Investment Trust Growth Shares (JETG) 194.50p -1.27%