InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) was leading the risers early on in London on the back of weekend press reports of a takeover bid, while Lloyds pleased with the announcement of its intention to float TSB.

While UK markets were closed on Monday for a Bank Holiday, indices across the continent posted strong gains in the wake of the European Parliament elections at the weekend. The FTSE 100 rose 0.22% to 6,830.41 in early trading.

Though the standings of anti-EU parties increased in some countries – such as UKIP in the UK and the Front National party in France – stocks were given a boost as the overall rise of ‘euroscepticism’ was outweighed by strong results from pro-euro parties in Italy and Greece. Italy’s FTSE MIB in particular surged nearly 4% yesterday after incumbent President Matteo Renzi’s Democratic Party managed to secure a sound victory this weekend.

“The election results are a positive, especially for Italy and Greece, where euroscepticism would have been a powerful threat to pending reforms and to the return of international investors,” according to analysts at RBS.

Meanwhile, chief market analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets said that developments in Ukraine also helped to lift sentiment on European markets yesterday despite Ukrainian forces launching air strikes on pro-Russian militants along the eastern border.

“The weekend vote in the Ukraine appears to have been one major catalyst for yesterday’s strong European session, with the new Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko making conciliatory noises towards Russia, as well as the European Union in an attempt to bring together the various factions in an attempt to de-escalate recent tensions,” he explained.

IHG jumps on bid interest

IHG shares surged this morning after Sky News reported that the the company rejected a £6bn takeover bid on the grounds that it was too low. While the identity of the bidder has not been confirmed, analysts have suggested that the proposal could have come from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

Lloyds also rose after confirming it will float a quarter of shares in TSB on the London Stock Exchange in June. Chief Executive António Horta-Osório said the initial public offering of TSB “is an important further step for the group as we act to meet our commitments to the European Commission”.

Heading the other way was AstraZeneca after US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer called an end to its takeover pursuit following continued rejections from the board of the Anglo-Swedish rival. Societe Generale was weighing further on AstraZeneca’s share price this weekend after cutting its rating on the stock from ‘hold’ to ‘sell’.

Oil and gas firm BG Group was also lower after being hit with a downgrade by Kepler to ‘reduce’.

Ophir Energy sank after saying it failed to encounter significant hydrocarbon shows after drilling the Affanga Deep-1 well in the Gnodo block offshore Gabon. Similarly Tullow Oil was in focus after revealing that drilling of one of its majority-owned wells offshore Norway failed to meet targets.

Software maker Aveva rose strongly as it revealed an 11% increase in full-year profit underpinned by strong demand at its Engineering and Design Systems unit and improved margins.

FTSE 100 – Risers
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,348.00p +5.48%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,584.00p +2.30%
TUI Travel (TT.) 413.30p +2.00%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 899.50p +1.98%
William Hill (WMH) 342.00p +1.94%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,701.00p +1.86%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 386.40p +1.84%
St James’s Place (STJ) 783.50p +1.75%
ITV (ITV) 181.60p +1.74%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 787.00p +1.68%

FTSE 100 – Fallers
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,216.00p -2.59%
Fresnillo (FRES) 836.00p -1.53%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,303.00p -1.44%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 200.50p -1.09%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 340.20p -1.02%
SABMiller (SAB) 3,303.50p -0.72%
Tesco (TSCO) 302.55p -0.53%
Hammerson (HMSO) 587.50p -0.51%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,938.00p -0.49%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,242.00p -0.48%

Source: ShareCast