A bid in the water sector, a revival among the pharmaceutical groups and a good trading statement from supermarket group Wm Morrison helped lift spirits a little today.
After this week's losses, the FTSE 100 ended 84.4 points higher at 6155.3. The FTSE 250 also put in a reasonable performance, up 102 points at 10,314.9. There was of course no guidance one way or another from Wall Street, which was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Kelda, the owner of Yorkshire Water, climbed 118p to £10.55 as it announced it had received a £3bn takeover approach from a consortium of infrastructure funds. The news lifted Northumbrian Water by 30.25p to 329.75p and Severn Trent by 77p to £14.46. This was despite the news that Severn was being charged by the Serious Fraud Office over water leakage data supplied to regulator Ofwat.
Wm Morrison added 22.5p to 293.5p after better than expected third-quarter sales, while AstraZeneca closed 138p higher at £22.31 after this morning's positive note from Citigroup. GlaxoSmithkline ended up 61p at £12.21.
