London shares open higher; M&A hopes lift Standard Chartered, Friends Provident

London shares open higher; M&A hopes lift Standard Chartered, Friends Provident

	Published : Mon, 19 Nov 2007 09:28 By : Agencies Print this Story

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Leading shares advanced in opening deals thanks to a rebound on the US markets on Friday and with M&A lifting Standard Chartered and Friends Provident.

At 8.24 am, the FTSE 100 was up 21.6 points at 6,312.8 and the FTSE 250 was 69.9 points higher at 10836.

Volume was 100.9 mln shares in 27,584 trades.

On Wall St on Friday, the DJIA finished a volatile day up 66.74 points, or 0.51 pct, to 13,176.79.

Broader stock indicators also recovered in late trade. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.59, or 0.52 pct, to 1,458.74. The Nasdaq composite index rose 18.73, or 0.72 percent, to 2,637.24 after investors set aside some concerns about the banking sector and the health of the overall economy.

This morning in Asia, the picture was less rosy.

Japan's Nikkei closed down 112.05 points, or 0.7 pct, at 15,042.56 as comments about the state of the US housing market continued to unsettle investors.

The Hang Seng ended the morning down 241.60 points, or 0.9 pct, at 27,372.83.

Also in Asia, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, was 66 cents higher at 94.50 usd. On Friday, the January contract settled up 1.77 usd at 93.84 usd per barrel.

The December contract expired Friday, closing 1.67 dollars higher at 95.10 dollars.

Standard Chartered shares climbed 70 pence to 1 today's Financial Times said China's three largest banks approached Temasek Holdings about buying its 17 pct stake in the UK group.

ABN Amro said the fact that Temasek has refused the offers suggests there is some possibility that these Chinese banks will over time build their stake in the open market with obvious positive implications for the share price.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Express said Friends Provident's days as an independent group are numbered as it is understood that insurance giants Zurich, Old Mutual and Axa are all preparing bids for the firm. Friends Provident shares added 3.8 to 160.3.

deborah.hyde@thomson.com

dlh/lam

The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.