Despite the market winding down for Christmas, the FTSE 100 is still vaguely attempting an assault on the 6000 barrier, helped by a surge in Weir shares.
The engineering group, which specialises in pumps and valves for the oil and gas industry, has jumped nearly 3% - up 48p to £18.60 - after unveiling a US acquisition. It is paying up to $388m - with $145m deferred and depending on future profit growth - for Mathena, which supplies pressure control rental equipment for onshore drilling operations. Investec analyst Thomas Rands issued a buy note and raised his target price from £20.20 to £21. He said:
This acquisition fits in nicely with [Weir's division] Seaboard and diversifies Oil & Gas revenues (31% of 2013 estimated sales) away from the pressure pumping market. We expect to upgrade our current 2013 pretax profit of £452.9m by 3%-4%.
Weir's rise has helped lift the FTSE 100 by 6.36 points to 5967.95.
Others heading higher included Wood Group, up 8.5p to 748.5p after Canaccord Genuity raised its rating to buy
Outsourcing group Serco added 4p to 548p following an inline trading update, where the company said it was on track to meet 2012 expectations.
Overall investors are nervous about the progress - or otherwise - of the US budget talks to resolve the so-called fiscal cliff, while news that the Bank of Japan was adding 10 trillion yen to its easing program was much in line with expectations.
