London shares close higher as Pearson outperforms; oil price spike supports |
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Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:02
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LONDON (AFX) - Leading shares closed higher, building on a week of solid gains as strength in media and energy stocks added to a solid early session on Wall Street, dealer said.At the close, the FTSE 100 index was 21.4 points firmer at 6,339.4, with the wider market mixed.Volume, though, was heavy, with 3.7 bln shares changing hands in 494,387 deals.Meanwhile, US stocks rose in early trade after a surprise jump in sales of existing homes last month lent strength to the growing notion that the housing sector may not be as weak as feared.Existing home sales rose by the biggest amount in nearly three years in February, the National Association of Realtors said.By London's close, the DJIA was up 26.30 at 12,487.40.Back in London, Pearson was the top blue chip, up 34 pence at 865 on confirmation that Dutch publishing peer and information company Wolters Kluwer is in exclusive talks with private equity group Bridgepoint Capital over the sale of its education division.The Wolters Kluwer division is expected to be sold for between 750-775 mln eur.Peer Reed Elsevier also moved higher, adding 5-1/2 pence to 606, with the firm also currently looking to sell its Harcourt Education publishing business. Pearson is mooted as a possible purchaser.newsdesk@afxnews.comrn/lamCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited
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Pearson says on track for record full-year after strong Q4 UPDATE 