The FTSE 100 Index is up 34.9 points at 5,893.6 points this morning, after earlier hitting 5,900 points for the first time since June 2001, led by HSBC and the telecoms sector.
HSBC is up 1.28% at 987.50p after it reported an 11%increase in pre-tax profit to £11.5bn for 2005, the highest ever by a UK high street bank. Vodafone has added 3.29% to 125.50p, while BT Group has added 3.29% to 227.75p and Cable & Wireless has risen 0.23% to 107.75p on bid speculation. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 237.82 points, or 1.5%, to 15,901.16 points, paced by Softbank after the company said it is in talks to buy Vodafone Group's local unit. Softbank climbed 120 yen, or 3.6%, to 3,430, while its affiliate, Yahoo Japan, rose 10,000 yen, or 7.4%, to 146,000. ...
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