The FTSE 100 index has made a gain of 50.6 points, or 0.9 %, at 5,558.0 to recover some of the index's recent falls to six-year lows after the mining sector, led by Kazakhmys , rose on resurgent commodity prices and as British Airways and banking group Lloyds TSB gained on speculation of possible bids.
British Airways was among the top gainers, adding 5.8% at 357 pence a share after speculation that rival Emirates might be interested in a bid, possibly at around and 450p a share, although dealers said Emirates had denied interest. Elsewhere on the M&A trail shares in Lloyds TSB rose 2.4% after newspaper reports cited possible takeover interest from a consortium of Middle East investors. Among mid-cap stocks hopes for a bidding war for Associated British Ports lifted the stock more than 4%. Earlier a group led by US investment bank Goldman Sachs raised its bid for AB Ports to £2.58bn aft...
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