Allied's Ricard buy boosts FTSE

Buoyed by news of such a major acquisition, the FTSE 100 index has so far earned 9 points or 0.2% to 4831 and the FTSE All-Share index is up a fraction to 2422.5 on the back of that Allied Domecq deal, which has seen Allied climb 19p or 3% to 662p. Rival drinks company is making on the back of it too, as its share price is this morning up 6.5p or 0.8% to 780p. However, oil and gas mining companies have fallen after the oil price dropped and on concerns there will be less demand for raw materials. BP, now Europe's largest oil company, has lost 3p or 0.6% to 524.5p while Shell has sl...