Bid buzz lifts Vodafone higher

SPECULATORS called up Vodafone Group yesterday on renewed talk of US bid interest.

America’s AT& T was touted as a potential buyer of Vodafone, 1 ¼ p higher at 229p, as Credit Suisse raised its price target on the mobile phone giant from 195p to 245p.

The broker has a value of up to 280p on Vodafone if AT& T makes its move once Vodafone has sold its stake in US joint venture Verizon Wireless which will trigger a multi- billion pound special dividend return to investors.

RSA Insurance topped the blue chip gainers board, up 3p to 127p on heavy trading, amid ongoing bid speculation, while another takeover favourite, water company United Utilities, fl owed 11 ½ p north to 716 ½ p.

Telecoms fi rm BT Group eased 4 ¾ p to 362 ½ p as it announced that Warren East, the former boss of chip designer Arm Holdings, will join its board as a non- executive director next February. Arm itself sank 50 ½ p to 953 ½ p as UBS cut its rating from buy to neutral.

China growth fears dented metals prices and weakened demand for top fl ight mining stocks including Antofagasta and Anglo American, down 38 ½ p to 865 ½ p and 61p to 1495p. The FTSE 100 Index fell 21.18 points to 6674.48.

There was also a sell- off across the heavyweight banking sector, where Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays dropped 10p to 352p and 4 ½ p to 268 ¼ p, while Asiafocused Standard Chartered was 22p overdrawn at 1500p.

Buy support from Morgan Stanley helped British Airways owner IAG take off 5 ¾ p to 364 ¾ p, while budget airline easyJet climbed 12p to 1348p.

There was pressure on engineering and technology fi rm Smiths Group, down 28p to 1397p, defence giant BAE Sys- tems, 5 ½ p in retreat at 450 ¾ p, and banking heavyweight HSBC, 9 ½ p in arrears at 678 ¼ p, as their shares traded without the right to the latest dividend.

Investors switched on to set top box maker Pace, 33 ¾ p brighter at 323 ¾ p, after it agreed to buy US company Aurora Networks for $ 310million, while electronic components group Laird gained 18 ¼ p to 244p after a positive trading update.

Buyers also moved in for housebuilders such as blue chip Persimmon, 29p ahead at 1256p, and mid- caps Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley Group, up 2 ½ p to 114p and 50p to 2434p. Mozambique- focused titanium miner Kenmare Resources struck it ½ p richer to 22 ½ p after a fi re at its Moma mine had less serious consequences than originally thought, but data centre operator Telecity eased 47 ½ p to 779 ½ p as dealers noted JPMorgan Cazenove had reduced its price target.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 54.33 points at 15,413.33 by close.