If it's Friday, it must be a spivvy rumour, and Marks & Spencer fits the bill. Its shares climbed 16p to 415.25p on chat that Bhs-owner Philip Green was stake-building.
Green, it may be remembered, offered 400p a share for M&S a couple of years ago, but the bid fell through. But before traders get too excitable, Green has just told Reuters that he was not buying M&S stock and it was just rumour-mongering.
Meanwile Panmure Gordon has issued a buy note on the company. Analyst Philip Dorgan said: "M&S's prospects are not as good as investors thought at 759p, but neither are they as bad as the current share price is discounting. We believe that the share price has now adjusted to the new profit outlook and that this presents a
buying opportunity and a safe way to dip a toe back into the sector."
Elsewhere AstraZeneca is up 73p to £23.71p on hopes it would benefit from disappointing clinical trials from Vytorin, a rival to its Crestor cholesterol treatment from Merck and Schering-Plough.
The London Stock Exchange recovered from recent weakness, up 87p to £16.74 on hopes of increased Chinese business. Its representative office in Beijing was opened today by a handful of notables, including Gordon Brown and LSE chief executive Clara Furse.
