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U.K. Stocks Rise; BT Group, BP, EasyJet Advance as GlaxoSmithKline Drops
U.K. stocks advanced for a seventh consecutive day, the FTSE 100 Index’s longest winning streak since June, amid takeover speculation in the telecommunications industry.
BT Group Plc advanced more than 2 percent after a report that rival Cable & Wireless Worldwide Plc may receive a takeover approach. BP Plc gained amid reports that the oil producer has raised its asset sales target.
The FTSE 100 rose 11.04, or 0.2 percent, to 5,439.19 at the 5:30 p.m. close in London, extending last week’s 4.4 percent rally as data from the U.S. and China helped ease concern that the global economic recovery is faltering. The FTSE All-Share Index added 0.2 percent today and Ireland’s ISEQ Index advanced 0.3 percent.
“With the U.S. markets closed, traders have focused on the positivity that continues in the market,” said London-based Joshua Raymond, a market strategist at City Index Group Ltd. “Bid talks continue to come in thick and fast.”
BT, the U.K.’s largest phone company, increased 2.2 percent to 140.6 pence. The Independent on Sunday reported that Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. is considering a bid for rival C&W Worldwide, citing an unidentified corporate adviser.
C&W Worldwide, which separated from its parent company in March, slipped 0.3 percent to 72.8 pence after earlier surging as much as 7.6 percent to 78.5 pence. Last week, the stock jumped 10 percent as investors speculated that AT&T Inc., the largest U.S. phone company, or one of its rivals may bid for C&W. AT&T said that it doesn’t comment on market speculation.
Yell Group Plc dropped 3.9 percent to 16.1 pence. The shares jumped 13 percent last week amid talk that the company might be for sale at around 30 pence a share. The company also said it doesn’t comment on market speculation.
BP, EasyJet Advance
BP gained 1.2 percent to 406.5 pence, extending last week’s 5.8 percent advance. The oil producer has increased the target for its asset sales to $40 billion from $30 billion to cover the rising cost of cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the Sunday Times reported, citing unidentified sources.
EasyJet Plc climbed 1.3 percent to 381.1 pence after Europe’s second-largest discount airline said passenger numbers rose to 5.2 million in August and the proportion of occupied seats increased 0.5 percentage points to 92.3 percent.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc declined the most in the FTSE 100, falling 1.5 percent to 1,249 pence. The British Medical Journal’s Editor-in-Chief Fiona Godlee said Glaxo should withdraw its Avandia diabetes treatment from the market. The European Medicines Agency meets on Sept. 8 to review the drug’s safety.
The Commission on Human Medicines advised the U.K. drug regulator in July to withdraw Avandia because its risks outweigh its benefits, the journal said today as part of an investigation into the drug.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net.
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