Gas fuels FTSE advances

British Gas owner Centrica led an advance for the London market today after Russian gas giant Gazprom said over the weekend that it was close to finalising an unnamed deal to increase its market presence in the UK.

Shares in Centrica jumped more than 4%, or 15.75p to 375.25p, as the UK firm has previously been highlighted as a possible target for Gazprom.

The FTSE 100 Index was ahead 51.4 points at 6556.5, as investors shook off last week’s negative sentiment regarding interest rate worries.

Takeover speculation continued to drive InterContinental Hotels, which stood 29p higher at 1332p, a gain of more than 3%. The Holiday Inn operator has been in the spotlight after the Barclay brothers built up a 10% stake.

Banking group Barclays also rose 2% as it emerged that an activist shareholder had called for the company to drop its ABN Amro bid. With Atticus pressing for investment in the existing business, shares rose 14p to 736.5p.

Can maker Rexam was one of the few fallers after it announced a share placing in order to pay for its £800 million acquisition of an American plastic packaging business. Shares were off 15.5p at 496p.

Mobile phone giant Vodafone followed it up the losers’ board as shares gave back some of the gains seen last week after shareholder group ECS called for a return of cash to investors. The stock was down 1.8p at 158.1p.

Moving in the opposite direction, a broker note from UBS suggested there was further upside to come from the mining sector. Lonmin was ahead 85p at 3872p, Rio Tinto climbed 77p to 3578p and Vedanta rose 26p to 1491p.

Outside the top flight, takeover speculation ignited JJB Sports – up 6.5p at 256p – after founder Dave Whelan sold his family’s 29% holding on Friday night.