Market report: Monday close

By Tom Nicholls
Updated: 12:02 EDT, 3 April 2006

BHP BILLITON led the FTSE 100 back over 6000 points today, after announcing the completion of a biggerthanexpected off-market share buyback.

As the shares rose 67p to 1118½p, the miner said it had upped the buyback to A$2.25bn (£0.93bn) from $A1.5bn in response to strong demand.

Other mining stocks were also among the market leaders, with Xstrata advancing 72p to 1935p, Anglo American up 71p at 2289p and Rio Tinto 131p better at 3053p. That pushed the Footsie 59.7 higher to 6024.3.

ITV was also among the gainers, adding ¾p to 120p. Morgan Stanley has upgraded the shares to equalweight from underweight and lifted its price target by 8p to 118p, reflecting its view that a radical management rethink may be in the offing.

But the upgrade was tempered with caution - the broadcaster is still under pressure on audience share and, with a privateequity bid at a big premium unlikely, the broker remains 'unenthused'.

Among second-liners Icap, the world's biggest inter-broker dealer, was 20¾p better at 468¼p on the back of reports that it is about to announce the acquisition of commodities trading platform EBS for $750m-$800m (£405m-£462m).

Rank Group was up 12¾p at 238¼p in the wake of media reports that private-equity group Blackstone is lining up a £1.4bn bid for the company.

Kesa Electricals added ¼p to 311¾p - again thanks to rumours that privateequity buyers are considering bidding for the electrical goods supplier. However Morgan Stanley, for one, is unmoved by such talk.

Initiating coverage with an underweight rating and a price target of 275p - implying the shares have 13% to fall - the broker believes a firm offer from a privateequity buyer of 300p plus is unlikely.

Simon Cawkwell, the investor also known as Evil Knievil, continues to stakebuild in Kryso Resources, with the purchase of a further 500,000 shares. He now owns 4.3% of the former Soviet Union-focused gold miner, of which he was deputy chairman until being ousted in September, when he was after buying Kryso shares during a prohibited period.

Property company Freeport, which owns some of continental Europe's biggest shopping centres, has announced that Sean Collidge, its founder, chairman and chief executive, has quit with immediate effect. The shares closed steady at 410p.

Trading in Ludorum, a media and entertainment investment vehicle, got under way on Aim today, with the shares changing hands at 122½p, against a placing price of a £1 a share. The placing raised a net £4.65m. Led by Rob Lawes, previously chief executive of Hit Entertainment Ludorum aims to exploit existing and new technologies to distribute intellectual property 'across a broad age profile'.

Marketing services company Media Square, chaired by former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie, was up 1½p at 20¾p following reports that the firm may be preparing to float one of its online marketing units.

Designer Vision, which supplies multimedia products to the retail market, was up 1.5p at 5.38p, after winning a $10m contract to supply DVD and MP3 players and video cameras to Toys 'R' Us in the US and Europe.