FTSE makes mild gains as US takes a holiday

The FTSE 100 was up 0.44% before midday, a rise of 24 points led by communications firms Cable & Wireless and BT Group.  

UK and Asian markets still appear to be benefiting from Friday’s better than expected US jobs figures. But US markets will be closed for the Labour Day holiday today. Some commentators say this will temper gains in UK markets.

Cable & Wireless shares were up 4.46%, a rise of 3.25p to 76.2p over rumours of bid talks with Singapore-based telecoms company SingTel. These are in addition to rumours of talks with AT&T which were reported last week.  BT Group shares climbed 1.96%, a rise of 2.7p to 140.7p.

HSBC, the FTSE 100’s largest company with a market cap of £115 billion, was up 1.54%, a rise of 10.5p to 664.9p. Its shares had climbed 1.6% higher in Hong Kong this morning.  

BP shares rose 1.19%, 4.8p higher to 407.83p. This morning analysts at Morgan Stanley said the company had 30-50% upside potential. Meanwhile the US Government also said the ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico was no longer a threat and the Financial Times reported that BP had revived the sale of its Alaskan assets.

The biggest losers on the FTSE 100 on Monday morning were distribution group Bunzl and Smith & Nephew.

The FTSE 250 was up 0.56%, a rise of 57.15 points at 10261 led by service provider Connaught.

Will Hedden, Sales Trader at IG Index said: 'Weekend press speculation about a possible bid for C&W Worldwide has lifted the company to the top of the blue-chip leader board with near 5 per cent gains – but the rest of the large caps are seeing more muted moves.' 

Heddon said loses at Bunzl, 'just seems to be a correction to the strong rise seen over the last couple of weeks that pushed the share price back near to  its best levels for the year so far.'

He said: 'With US markets closed for a public holiday, and nothing of any note on the economic calendar, traders are resigning themselves to a quiet session ahead, with little change expected on the FTSE following the early gains.'