Arriva adds nearly 17 percent on bid possibility

European markets saw gains Wednesday.

The FTSE 100 was 0.43 percent higher to 5,644.63 in London, while the FTSE 250 added 0.79 percent to 10,008.5.

Shares in the travel and leisure sector were in focus on the 250, where public transport operator Arriva (LSE: ARI) added 16.82 percent to lead the index and all shares in London after it said it was the recipient of an “unsolicited approach”.

Also charting in the top five gainers on the 250 were hotels operator Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (LSE: MLC), which gained 4.86 percent while online gambling group 888 Holdings (LSE: 888) was up 4.78 percent.

Not all travel & leisure companies saw gains on the session, however, as pubs operator J D Wetherspoon (LSE: JDW) dropped 4.01 percent for the biggest decline in the sector and traded ex-dividend.

Over on the 100, travel agent Thomas Cook Group (LSE: TCG) also traded ex-dividend as it dropped 2.82 percent.

The mining sector was higher as metals prices gained, with the biggest gains coming on the 250, where Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) added 5.5 percent for the best performance in the sector, while Talvivaara Mining Company (LSE: TALV) was up 4.59 percent and Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG) gained 4.07 percent.

There were also two miners among the biggest gainers on the 100 as gold and silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) added 3.390 percent and Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) gained 2.41 percent.

Insurance underwriter Amlin (LSE: AML), trading ex-dividend, saw the biggest decline on the session in London as it dropped 4.96 percent on the 250, while the biggest loss on the 100 came from security services group G4S (LSE: GFS), which fell 4.94 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.88 percent to 1,070.53 while the CAC-40 added 0.48 percent to 3,957.89, the Dax was 0.89 percent higher to 6,024,28 and the IBEX gained 0.97 percent to 11,166.8.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were higher on the session.

The Nikkei 225 added 1.17 percent to 10,846.98 in Tokyo, while the Topix index was up 0.99 percent to 947.43 and the Mothers market gained 1.5 percent to 432.48.

In moves intended to combat deflation, the Bank of Japan voted to hold interest rates steady at 0.1 percent and also said it will make more inexpensive loans available to banks.

Miners were higher as metals prices rose, with Nippon Mining Holdings (TYO: 5016) adding 3.7 percent while Mitsui Mining & Smelting (TYO: 5706) was 5.8 percent higher on a profits forecast that was up 44 percent for the full year.

Elpida Memory (TYO: 6665) gained 1.6 percent on a media report that it could see an operating profit in the fiscal year ending 31 March.

Elsewhere in the region, India’s Sensex added 0.61 percent to 17,490.08 while the Straits Times Index was up 0.79 percent to 2,919.3.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 was 1.17 percent higher to 4,853.2 and the Sydney Ordinaries gained 1.2 percent to 4,866.9.

The Hang Seng added 1.72 percent to 21,384.49 in Hong Kong while the Shanghai Composite was up 1.93 percent to 3,050.48, the Taiex gained 1.98 percent to 7,847.84 and South Korea’s Kospi was 2.11 percent higher to 1,682.86.

New York markets were higher in early afternoon trade as the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.55 percent to 10,744.78 while the S&P 500 was up 0.67 percent to 1,167.22 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.66 percent higher to 2,393.81.

Crude oil prices and prices for metals were higher at early afternoon in New York.

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: Arriva adds nearly 17 percent on bid possibility