FTSE up 1% on bid news

At 8.18am, the index had risen 1.2% or 64.16 points to 5,396.31. One of the risers was International Power, which advanced 4.34% to 382.3p on the expectation its acquisition by GDF Suez will be announced this week. BP aslo performed strongly, up 2% to 433.85p, after hailing its ‘static kill' operation a success. Fallers included Essar Energy, down 0.52% to 405.6p, while African Barrick Gold dipped 0.35% to 566p. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones shed 0.2% or 21.42 points to 10,653.56 after data showed the US lost more jobs than expected in July. However, the index did recover som...