London markets higher on miners, stock exchanges

The London equities markets were higher on Monday, with the FTSE 100 helped out by a bid for miner Phelps Dodge by Freeport-McMoran that raised hopes of further consolidation in the mining sector. The 100 added 0.2 percent on the session to 6,204.5. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 gained 0.1 percent to 10,725.9, aided by a bid from Nasdaq for the London Stock Exchange, which was up 6 percent to £24.45 on the news.

The media sector was lower after BSkyB took 18 percent of ITV on Friday, which put a roadblock in the way of efforts of NTL to purchase ITV. BSkyB dropped 0.7 percent to 533p as investors figured that the purchase might be a good deal, while ITV was 1 percent lower to 114¼p.

Ladbrokes fell 1.9 percent to 390¾p on a downgrade from “buy” to “hold” from ABN Amro after an unsatisfactory trading update recently. Elsewhere in the leisure sector, Enterprise Inns added 2.3 percent to £11.67 ahead of its full-year report, due later in the day. Enterprise was expected to continue its share buy-back program instead of making new purchases.

The mining sector was higher after news of the Freeport-McMoran bid for Phelps Dodge. Anglo American added 2 percent to £24.45, while Rio Tinto was 2.4 percent higher to £27.32 despite the fact that there was some expectation that it might make a counter bid for Phelps. Antofagasta gained 4.1 percent to 476½p.

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