Compass sets positive course for FTSE

Catering firm Compass led the London market forward today after agreeing to sell its Upper Crust and Moto travel chains for £1.82bn (€2.6bn).

Shares in the company gained more than 3% while oil stocks and miners were also on the front foot.

And vague bid speculation surrounding mobile phone giant Vodafone added to the buoyant mood as the FTSE 100 Index rose 20.1 points to 6046.2 by mid-morning.

Shares in Compass jumped to the top of the blue chip risers board with gains of 8p to 237.5p following its decision to sell travel catering business Select Service Partner.

Heavyweight oil firms BP and Royal Dutch Shell provided further momentum with gains of 10.5p to 692p and 19p to 1947p respectively.

And miners also moved up the leaderboard as copper prices continued to test record levels. Kazakhmys was up 31.5p to 1231.5p while Antofagasta was 43p higher at 2296p and Xstrata added 32p to 1965p.

Meanwhile, Vodafone ticked up a penny to 126.75p after an unconfirmed report suggested that a group of telecoms companies and private equity firms were mulling a £96bn (€138bn) bid.

But Alliance & Leicester shares slumped 8p to 1134p on the back of a report that said Spain’s largest bank Santander has ruled it out as a potential takeover target. Alliance shares have risen sharply in recent months amid rumours of interest from Europe.

Other banking firms slipped into the red today with Barclays down 8.5p to 692.5p and Royal Bank of Scotland off 16p to 1829p.

Elsewhere, Carphone Warehouse was up 7.25p to 314p following weekend reports that it was to offer free broadband as part of a bundle with its Talk Talk landline service.