A&L speculation pushes FTSE higher

Alliance & Leicester jumped 6.95% to £12.00 a share, following reports suggesting it is the subject of Spanish bid interest from Banco Santander, which bought Abbey National in 2004. Telecoms firm Cable & Wireless also performed well with gains of 1.22% to 104p on reports mobile operator O2, recently bought by Telefonica, is considering a move for a UK internet service provider. Elsewhere, independent financial adviser Millfield Group lost almost half of its share value today, slumping a massive 47.46% to 3.88p after revealing discussions over a possible takeover bid have ended withou...