LONDON (ShareCast) - London closed above 6,400 for the first time in over six years on blue chip bid talk, strong miners and gains in the US as dealers welcomed an upbeat statement from Fed president Ben Bernanke.

Plumbing merchant Wolseley topped the risers, with the shares up over 7% on a report in City AM this morning that it has caught the attention of private equity bidders.

It was suggested that private equity firm Cinven, advised by Goldman Sachs, is mulling a possible £10bn bid for the group, although other sources have dismissed the report.

DSG International headed sharply higher as bid rumours also swirled around the electricals retailer. Reports suggested Sweden's Electrolux could be interested.

Elsewhere, the mining sector remained on bullish form after metal prices jumped again. Vedanta Resources stood out, followed by Xstrata, Anglo American and Rio Tinto.

Liberty International, the UK REIT and property developer, announced a strong increase in profits and said it has a pipeline of projects worth £1bn. Adjusted net assets per share rose 12% over the year to December to 1,327p from 1,188p.

In broker comment, satellite broadcaster BSkyB eased after a Teather & Greenwood downgrade to “reduce” from “buy”, but Lehman hiked its target on Centrica to 320p from 275p, sending the utility north.

Drax was down as Credit Suisse repeated its ‘underperform’ rating and 690p price target due to the impact on forward sales of lower gas and carbon prices and higher coal prices.

EMI plunged after issuing another profit warning following a deterioration in market conditions in North America, as an unusually higher level of customers are returning products. The group warned last month that full year revenue could fall by up to 10% following a weak Christmas period.

The group, which has artists including Kylie and Robbie Williams on its books, said its recorded music division is expected to see a 15% decline in revenue for the period compared to last year.

Online gamer 888 says it has started the new financial year well with record turnover in January 2007 for non-US operations in both the casino and poker businesses. There was no comment on progress on its talks with Ladbrokes.

Printer maker Xaar has ended takeover talks with Danaher saying that an improved bid from the US group still significantly undervalued the firm. Xaar said Danaher's offer had not moved sufficiently from its initial range of 200p to 220p.

GW Pharmaceuticals has signed a deal with Otsuka Pharmaceuticals to develop and market its cannabis-based medicine Sativex in the US. GW said it would receive total milestone payments of up to $273m as well as royalties on future sales.

Fashion house Marchpole Holdings has added another brand to its growing portfolio after acquiring shoe importer and wholesaler Greenmark.

Both Gulfsands Petroleum and Emerald Energy plunged as the oil and gas groups reported “disappointingly incomplete” results from drilling at the Tigris-1 well in Syria.

But Healthcare Enterprise soared as the medical product firm’s Ebiox unit secured US Environment Protection Agency approval for patented concentrate and spray disinfectants.

A & J Mucklow got a boost today as the property group said it has decided to work towards conversion to Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT, status on 1 July 2007.

Eruma, the security blind manufacturer, announced that it has seen a significant increase in new orders since it last spoke to the market.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Wolseley (WOS) 1,407.00p +7.24%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,280.00p +5.35%
Xstrata (XTA) 2,488.00p +3.49%
Man Group (EMG) 579.00p +3.02%
Smith and Nephew (SN.) 637.25p +2.95%
DSG International (DSGI) 175.00p +2.94%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,568.00p +2.93%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,820.00p +2.43%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 489.00p +2.41%
Land Securities (LAND) 2,272.00p +2.30%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Drax (DRX) 662.00p -1.78%
Carnival Corporation (CCL) 2,633.00p -0.94%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 592.50p -0.84%
Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) 1,526.00p -0.72%
Sainsbury (SBRY) 514.50p -0.68%
Alliance and Leicester (AL.) 1,091.00p -0.55%
Alliance Boots (AB.) 813.00p -0.55%
Kingfisher (KGF) 252.00p -0.49%
Reuters Group (RTR) 427.00p -0.47%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,695.00p -0.35%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Aquarius Platinum (AQP) 1,585.00p +4.97%
De La Rue (DLAR) 729.00p +4.29%
UK Coal (UKC) 442.50p +3.93%
PartyGaming (PRTY) 34.50p +3.76%
Gyrus Group (GYG) 453.50p +3.30%
JJB Sports (JJB) 263.75p +3.23%
Homeserve (HSV) 1,813.00p +3.19%
Taylor Woodrow (TWOD) 435.75p +2.95%
Luminar (LMR) 785.50p +2.88%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 201.50p +2.81%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
EMI (EMI) 210.75p -12.00%
British Energy Group (BGY) 390.00p -4.88%
Debenhams (DEB) 163.75p -2.67%
Misys (MSY) 241.50p -2.03%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 179.00p -1.65%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 285.75p -1.64%
Assura Group (AGR) 198.00p -1.61%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 399.25p -1.48%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 167.00p -1.47%
EMAP (EMA) 744.00p -1.46%

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