LONDON (ShareCast) - A flurry of bid speculation and an early three-figure gain on Wall Street is keeping London out in front, with just a few unlucky blue chips missing out on the rally.

Alliance and Leicester is higher than the value of the £1.3bn Santander offer, which is worth 317p a share, including an expected interim dividend. Standard Chartered, Barclays and Lloyds TSB are up strongly in sympathy, but their gains are dwarfed by Bradford & Bingley, the UK mortgage lender that was left at the altar by US private equity group Texas Pacific (TPG) on Independence Day (4 July).

Financials were in good health anyway after the board of the Federal Reserve, chaired by Ben Bernanke, voted to allow the New York Federal Reserve to lend to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should such lending "prove necessary".

Bid speculation is also bolstering broadcaster ITV, where John de Mol, the co-founder of TV production company Endemol, is rumoured to be considering a bid. The broadcaster also benefited from US bank Morgan Stanley upgrading the stock to “equal weight” from “underweight” after the stock’s recent sharp decline.

The sliding oil price depresses Royal Dutch Shell but is welcomed by heavy fuel user Carnival, the cruise operator, and airline stocks such as British Airways and easyJet.

Rexam is going strong after Goldman Sachs raised its rating on the can maker to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ saying the current share price is a good entry point offering exposure to the company’s relatively resilient drinks cans operations.

Russia-focused oil group Imperial Energy has received a bid approach. "In response to press speculation, the board of Imperial confirms that it has received an approach which may or may not lead to an offer being made for the company," it said. Imperial is worth over £1bn after today's jump.

UBS has lowered its rating on Thomson Reuters to ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’, saying the company’s news services are likely to see reduced revenues over the fourth quarter.

The Swiss broker lifted its rating on Johnson Matthey to ‘neutral’ from ‘sell’, saying the speciality chemicals firm has underperformed competitors recently.

Real estate investment trust Land Securities is firmer after being upgraded to “neutral” by Goldman Sachs.

Elsewhere, Dawnay, Day Carpathian and Dawnay, Day Sirius, two funds managed by cash strapped Dawnay Day have moved to distance themselves from the fund manager’s problems and stated their finances are completely separate.

Insurer Friends Provident has scrapped plans to sell its financial advice unit Pantheon Financial. The group said it has decided to retain ownership to avoid disruption in the business due to the ongoing speculation on changes of ownership.

Swiss biotech firm Actelion has chosen GlaxoSmithKline as is partner to develop and market its sleep medicine almorexant, in a deal worth up to $3.3bn. GSK will have exclusive worldwide rights to co-develop and co-commercialise almorexant, Actelion said.

Double-digit growth in online revenues, accompanied by significant cost reductions will help publisher Centaur Media hit expectations even though market conditions weakened during the course of 2008.

Gaming software specialist Playtech has signed a four-year, exclusive licensing agreement in respect of two of Paramount Pictures' film releases, 'Gladiator' and 'The Untouchables'.

Property group St Modwen has written off a net £37.7m from the book value of its residential sites and £16.9m off its commercial portfolio as a result of the property market slump.

Flooring and fabric specialist Low & Bonar boosted interim profit before tax, amortisation and non-recurring items by 62% to £12m on revenue u 50% to £213.4m.

Each of the Hamworthy's main product groups has performed in accordance with expectations, the marine fluid-handling systems firm said Monday. The near-term outlook is underpinned by the strength of its order book, at £301m on 30 June.

Revenue and profits for the six months ended 30 June 2008 are expected to be significantly ahead of analyst expectations at data management specialist SDL. This will have a positive impact on the expected result for the full year, it says.

Emerald Energy has more than tripled half year profit after tax despite a drop in production thanks to rocketing oil prices.

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