Traders are dosing up on Shire.
The drug-maker climbed today thanks to a push from UBS and speculation that a mega-merger could be on the cards.
Rumours have surfaced online that Shire could be mulling a $65 billion (£44 billion) merger with US BioMarin Pharmaceutical, which works on treatments for rare genetic diseases.
But UBS is confident of Shire’s prospects solo, saying today that the Irish group is sitting on three blockbuster drugs: two of them, bought as part of the deal for NPS Pharmaceutical at the start of the year, could be worth $9 billion combined, UBS reckons, and Shire’s binge-eating drug Vyvanse could also be a big earner.
Shire rose 40p to 5350p.
Barely days have passed but the Footsie’s record-breaking run feels a long time ago now and the FTSE 100’s slide extended to a fourth session today, slipping 33.12 points to 6862.18p.
Slipping copper prices sent the mining sector into reverse, with miners knocking 8.99 points off the index.
Chilean copper miner Antofagasta had the added pain of heavy rains halting operations at two of its mines, leaving it down 11p at 713p.
Vodafone bucked the market, rising 2.3p to 226.27p on the back of success in India. The telecom giant paid $4.12 billion in the latest auction of airwaves, lower than the $5 billion brokers had expected.
JPMorgan’s Akhil Dattani said: “With the auction overhang removed, and foreign exchange pressures easing, we believe it is time to focus on the re-rating potential offered by Vodafone’s improving European outlook, and our anticipated return to revenue growth.”
Airlines declined yesterday on the back of rising oil prices but the sector came roaring back today: easyJet rose 28p to 1865p, benefiting from the delayed impact of strong results yesterday and a host of broker recommendations off the back of it.
British Airways-owner IAG also improved 5p to 591.75p.
A bullish trading statement helped boiler repair specialist HomeServe to climb 10.6p to 373.7p.
Healthcare group Cambian announced a £36 million deal to buy fostering operator By the Bridge, part-funded through a placing to raise £26 million. Cambian dipped 5p to 218.75p.
Botswana Diamonds was flat at 1.37p despite a bullish statement and narrowing losses.
Rival, Stellar Diamonds slipped 0.07p to 0.82p as it warned that market conditions are deteriorating with prices of stones falling by as much as 20% since the summer. Management also said the company will need to raise $20 million to fund operations.
Management at African oil and gas explorer Tower Resources were left scratching their heads today, putting out a statement saying they are unsure why shares have jumped 0.11p to 0.39p.
