Oil & Gas helps FTSE end day on a high

BG Group rose 12.5p to 329.5p on continued speculation the company, once part of the UK gas monopoly, may fall to a larger competitor. BHP Billiton gained 18.75p to 512.75p. The mining company has agreed to sell $9bn of iron ore to four Chinese steelmakers. Abbey National fell 3.8% to 466.5p after an analyst at Merrill Lynch cut his recommendation on the shares to "neutral" from "buy". The Glasgow-based firm today announced it will not pay bonuses on some life-insurance policies, arguing it still has a shortfall to make up from the previous three years. In the meantime, Aviva rose ...