Footsie up 40 points in early trading

Hanson shares jumped 6% today as investors bought into speculation that he building materials group had received and subsequently rejected a takeover approach.

The move, which caused shares to rally 40p to 727.5p, is thought to have come from cement and concrete company Cemex and valued Hanson at 840p a share.

Overall, the FTSE 100 Index was up 40.8 points at 5839.1, as a pick up in metal and oil prices enabled commodity-based stocks to recover some of their losses from yesterday. The stocks closed lower last night amid fears that weaker growth in United States could dampen demand.

Among the miners today, Lonmin lifted 67p to 2505p, Antofagasta added 10.25p to 425.5p and Rio Tinto cheered 43p to 2395p.

Other top flight risers included Scottish Power, p 10.5p to 626p, as speculation of a fresh approach from E.On reached the market.

Only a handful of blue-chip stocks were in negative territory, led by money broker Icap as investors continued to digest news that it had held talks with London Stock Exchange about a possible merger. Shares were off 4.25p at 504.75p.

Tobacco stocks were also under pressure after a federal court judge granted class-action status to a lawsuit against Philip Morris and other large makers of “light” cigarettes. The case centres on whether consumers were led to believe that such cigarettes were less harmful than other types.

British American Tobacco, which owns RJ Reynolds in the US, was unchanged at 1455p while Imperial Tobacco edged ahead – 1p to 1796p – after a tough start.

Foods group RHM was near the top of the fallers board in the FTSE 250 Index after it reported some weakness in its culinary brands division. As a result of the pressure on its Bisto business, RHM said results would be “even more skewed” towards the second half. Shares were off 11.25p at 272.75p.