Bid speculation pushes FTSE higher

Intercontinental Hotels posted the biggest gains with a rise of 3.59% to £13, following continued bid speculation around interest from Starwood, while Capita Group also climbed 2.33% to 637.5p. Wolseley gained 1.97% to £13.49, closely followed by miner Kazakhmys which rose 1.66% to £10.43, while cruise operator Carnival climbed 1.63% to £28.04, although gains were limited by BSkyB which fell 1.35% to 550p. Retailers were among the biggest fallers with Next ending down 1.24% to £19.19, while DSG International fell 1.29% to 172p, although the biggest drag on the index was British Americ...