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FTSE100 closes strongly as UK GDP data welcomed

Published: 12:51 29 Apr 2014 EDT

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Footsie closed strongly -  almost 70 points up - as more bid chatter drove the market higher and financial stocks did well.

Britain's leading share index finished Tuesday at 6,769 - a rise of 1.04%.

Shire (LON:SHP) was the biggest gainer on the top flight early on before pulling back as there were hopes that Botox maker Allergan had renewed its interest in the British drugmaker.

Initial talks between the pair broke down last month, according to reports.

The US group has since received a takeover offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals and activist investor Bill Ackman.

It follows AstraZeneca’s (LON:AZN) confirmation yesterday that it turned down a £60bn bid from US giant Pfizer. 

Insurance and pensions specialist Legal & General (LON:LGEN) was the biggest gainer - up 3.2% and Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HL.) also gained 3.1% as they were buoyed by UK GDP growth of 0.8% in the first three months.

Indeed, traders appeared to welcome the latest quarter GDP number despite it being below expectations.

Natural gas giant BG Group (LON:BG.) was another notable gainer as investors weighed up the departure of chief executive Chris Finlayson, announced yesterday.

Some shareholders say his exit has paved the way for a takeover from the likes of ExxonMobil.

The junior market was also upbeat - FTSE AIM All-share went up 2.97, while FTSE AIM 100 added over 22 points.

In the small cap space, budget carrier Fastjet (LON:FJET) flew 6.94% higher after deciding to put Angola and Ghana, two of its loss-making businesses, on the back burner after a review of its legacy Fly540 operations.

The low-cost African airline will instead be focusing its efforts on East and Southern Africa, taking two ATR planes operating in Angola and Ghana out of service in the hope of selling them.

ECR Minerals (LON:ECR) shares advanced 4.65% as it told investors a first phase of drilling on the Itogon gold-silver project in the Philippines had been completed smoothly.

The work completed on April 28 and the firm expects assay results to be available by the end of next month (May).

Zoo Digital (LON:ZOO) added 4.84% as it revealed its full-year figures are likely to beat expectations.

It now expects to report revenues of $9.7mln and a loss of $300,000 for last year, which follows a period of heavy investment in ZOOsubs, despite warning in February of slower revenue growth.

Iofina (LON:IOF) shares continued to recover, adding over 21% today after sealing a US$5mln convertible bond with Panacea Limited.

North River Resources (LON:NRRP), however, dropped over 11% after revealing that the feasibility study has been delayed for its Namib lead, zinc, silver mine in Namibia.

Other notable risers were Condor Gold (LON:CNR), up 10.45%, Panet Payment (LON:PPT), up 7.91% and West African Minerals (LON:WAFM), which gained 17.95%.

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