A flurry of financial mergers in the US led to early gains in the banking sector in the City today.
BankAmerica and NationsBank agreed a mega-merger, followed by Banc One and First Chicago, prompting speculation that further unions could be announced inthe UK and Europe.
The FTSE-100 Index, however, only gained a marginal 2.7 points to 6,108.2, mirroring the surprisingly slight increase on Wall Street yesterday.
HSBC, already rumoured to be in talks with a Canadian bank, led the way, gaining 28p to £20.10.
Close behind came Standard Chartered, up 25p to 997p, Lloyds TSB up 9p to £10.32 and Halifax up 9p to 889p. Barclays gained 15p to £18.40, Royal Bank of Scotland improved 8p to £10.17 and NatWest up 22p to £11.82.
Analysts awaited official producer input price figures, which will be released later this morning, but a preliminary survey predicted a drop owing to the strength of the pound. Producer output figures were also predicted to be down.
Shares in many manufacturers dipped, with BOC down 20p to 910p, Unilever down 10p to 620p and Rolls-Royce down a penny to 273p.
Cable & Wireless gained 12p to 750p after announcing the sale of its 20% stake in French mobile phone company Bouyges Telecom to Telecom Italia. Press reports of a tie-up with Telecom Italia also bolstered the group.
BAA reported that a record 104.5m passengers used its seven airports in the UK last year – up nearly 7% on the previous year. However, year-on-year growth for March dipped, causing shares to stall 7p to 630p.
Electronics Boutique – the computer software and games retailer, saw an astonishing 16-fold increase in pre-tax profits. The company zapped up 5p to 68p, making it one of the day’s biggest percentage gainers.
As the Carling Premier League come to its crunch period, Arsenal’s 4-1 defeat against Blackburn Rovers yesterday made them favourites to whip the championship title away from Manchester United, which fell 2p to 131p.
PA News 14/04/98
