London’s FTSE 100 was 1.5% firmer at 7,082.62 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Ladbrokes owner Entain racked up healthy gains again after saying that DraftKings had made a £16.4bn offer for the sports betting company. US-based DraftKings made an initial approach at 2,500p a share which was rejected.
The group subsequently upped its offer to 2,800p a share, consisting of 630p in cash and the balance in stock. The latest offer represents a 46.2% premium to Entain’s closing share price on Monday.
Flutter Entertainment advanced after the Paddy Power Betfair owner said it had settled in full a legal dispute with the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Miners put in a strong performance as copper prices rallied, with Antofagasta, Anglo American and Rio all higher.
B&Q owner Kingfisher was on the back foot for the second day in a row after it said on Tuesday that third-quarter like-for-like sales to September 18 were down 0.6% year-on-year as it reported a surge in interim profits and revenue along with a £300m share buyback.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Entain (ENT) 2,404.00p 6.32%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,400.00p 5.34%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 428.70p 4.56%
Glencore (GLEN) 325.90p 4.46%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 374.95p 4.23%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 15,890.00p 4.06%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,568.00p 3.80%
Prudential (PRU) 1,412.00p 3.56%
BP (BP.) 319.05p 3.32%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,863.00p 3.31%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Kingfisher (KGF) 340.90p -2.57%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,754.00p -2.24%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,022.00p -2.11%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,585.00p -1.44%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,357.00p -1.42%
National Grid (NG.) 945.20p -1.31%
SSE (SSE) 1,640.00p -1.26%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 609.80p -1.04%
Croda International (CRDA) 9,068.00p -0.29%
Rightmove (RMV) 732.40p -0.16%
