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Shire bid talk sends FTSE higher | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
(Close): Drugmaker Shire was the top gainer on the FTSE 100, rising 3.1% amid speculation that it was looking to take over US rival Radius Health. | |
Its performance boosted the benchmark index, which closed up 39.37 points or 0.62% at 6,378.04. | |
Oil stocks also bolstered the London market as crude and metals prices rose. | |
Shares in oil giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell were both up more than 1% as crude prices rose slightly on Friday after several days of declines. | |
Shares in Burberry continued to slide on worries over demand in Asia. Burberry's shares had dropped 8% on Thursday after it said trade in China was "increasingly challenging", and they fell a further 1.9% after German fashion house Hugo Boss said it also been affected by the slowdown in Asia. | |
Shares in drugmaker AstraZeneca slipped 0.6% after it said US regulators had not approved a diabetes treatment and had asked for more clinical data. | |
Rio Tinto shares closed 0.8% lower. Earlier on Friday, the mining giant had reported a 17% rise in iron ore shipments in the third quarter, saying it had used some of its stockpiles to meet demand. | |
On the currency markets, the pound dropped 0.19% against the dollar to $1.5438 and was down 0.14% against the euro at €1.3594. |