Stocks up while Merlin leads the FTSE 250

Shares in Madame Tussauds owner Merlin soared yesterday as it accepted a £5.9 billion takeover offer, while London’s top stocks finished the week on a cautiously optimistic note.

Merlin Entertainments said it had agreed to a bid from Lego’s owners, a private equity giant and a Canadian pension fund, sending the firm’s shares up by 54.1p, or 13.7%, to 449.1p and making it the top riser on the FTSE 250.

Meanwhile the FTSE 100 gained 23.3 points, or 0.31%, to close at 7,425.63.

The blue-chip index was in line with global markets as investors anticipated a meeting between the leaders of China and the US over the weekend.

Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said: “The fact that equity markets are trading higher across the board gives a fairly clear indication that investors are optimistic of some progress. Historically the odds are onside for a truce between the two powers, if the last G20 is anything to go by.”

On European markets the German Dax was up 1.04% and French Cac 0.91% higher.

The pound was higher, up 0.18% on the euro to 1.116 and 0.26% versus the dollar to 1.270.

Oil prices were in the red, as the positive sentiment reduced fears over supply issues. A barrel of Brent crude oil was trading at 65.58 US dollars, down 1.12%.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were International Consolidated Airlines Group, up 22.6p to 476.9p, easyJet up 43.2p to 953.2p, Berkeley Group up 150p to 3,731p and Burberry Group up 73p to 1,862p. The biggest fallers were Imperial Brands down 43p to 1,846.8p, Bunzl down 38p to 2,077p, Intertek Group down 80p to 5,502p and BT Group down 2.28p to 196.46p.