FTSE makes progress

London’s blue-chips made firm progress today after the market was buoyed by takeover speculation and solid trading updates.

The FTSE 100 Index maintained its positive start to the session after a more optimistic close on Wall Street following recent losses, standing 48.4 points higher at 6615.5 by mid-morning.

Leading the way was insurance firm Old Mutual, up nearly 4%, or 6.5p, to 174.7p on reports that its NedBank business in South Africa was a takeover target for Standard Chartered.

The speculation did little for Standard Chartered, which has played down the rumours, with the shares off 20p at 872p.

Meanwhile, supermarket chain Morrisons joined the Footsie risers board as the company said it was on track to meet its expectations, despite reporting slower like-for-like sales growth in recent weeks.

Traders appeared content with the 3% figure, driving shares up by more than 2%, or 9p, to 324.75p.

Mobile phone giant Vodafone also reassured the market that it was on track to meet full-year profits forecasts. The stock soared almost 2% on the news although it lost the early impetus to stand 0.7p higher at 159.8p.

In the defence sector, approval from US regulators for BAE Systems’ proposed £2bn (€3bn) takeover of Armor Holdings helped the firm nearly 3%, or 11.5p higher to 413.5p.

Pubs chain Mitchells & Butlers was the Footsie’s leading faller, off more than 2%, or 19p, at 873p on reports of increased costs for the firm following a rumoured property deal with entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz.

British Energy was also down as the business warned of more outages at its nuclear power stations to fine-tune its boilers. The stock was off 7.5p at 522p.

Elsewhere, investors took comfort in a sales update from Mothercare, as strong online business helped offset a weaker performance on the high street.

Shares were 9.25p higher at 404.25p, a gain of 2%.