The FTSE 100 is up 42.89 points to 6,712.13 as it is buoyed by M&A activity and a continued settling of post Brexit nerves.
UK chip designer ARM (ARM) is the top riser on the index, up 46.9% to £17.47, as it confirms it is to be bought by Japan’s Softbank (9984:TYO) for £24 billion. The £17 per share deal represents a 43% premium to its closing price last week.
Fellow chip play Imagination Technologies (IMG) is also pulled higher, up 10.7% to 206.25p.
Travel stocks are again under pressure after further geopolitical turmoil with the foiled coup in Turkey taking place as 50,000 UK tourists holidayed in the country. On The Beach (OTB) falls 4.4% to 215p and Thomas Cook (TCG) is off 3.8% to 61.4p. Events firm ITE (ITE) which has a material footprint in Turkey slips 2.7% to 150.75p.
Falling copper prices hit mining stocks with Anglo American (AAL) down 2.2% to 817.9p and BHP Billiton (BLT) falling 2.1% to 975.2p.
Alcohol wholesaler and retailer Conviviality (CVR:AIM) froths up 5.9% to 188.5p on tasty full-year results showing stellar growth in sales, adjusted pre-tax profits and free cashflow, boosted by October's transformational takeover of drinks wholesaler Matthew Clark. There's also a 14% hike in the dividend to 9.5p, reflecting management's confidence in the outlook for the group.
Micro-cap sensor systems specialist Transense Technologies (TRT:AIM) gains 42.5% to 1.42p as it reports in-line trading and flags a licensing agreement with US conglomerate General Electric (GE:NYSE). The latter will pay $500,000 on signing, a further $250,000 subject to its Surface Acoustic Wave technology passing a series of tests and royalty payments based on the use of SAW in certain torque applications.
North Sea oil producer EnQuest (ENQ) is in discussions with US peer Delek (DK:NYSE) on the sale of a 20% interest in its Kraken development. Its shares advance 1.7% to 30.25p on the news.
Nigerian oil and gas play Sirius Petroleum (SRSP:AIM) is up 16.7% to 0.35p as it gets environmental approval on its Ororo field licence.
Audio visual content specialist Mirada (MIRA:AIM) slips 14.3% to 4.5p as it swings from a profit in its March 2015 financial year to an operating loss in March 2016 of £360,000.
