LONDON (ShareCast) - British Land and Land Securities moved to the top of the FTSE 100 leaderboard after an offshoot of sovereign wealth fund Dubai World launched a bid for smaller property group Minerva worth more than double its share price.
The move sparked further speculation that there is a flood of Middle -Eastern money eyeing up UK property businesses, most of which have taken a pounding following the slide in property values over the past year. Landsecs has shed a third of its value while British Land's share price has nearly halved.
Elsewhere, miners are having a good day on rising metal prices led by Ferrexpo and Vedanta.
HBOS is one the main casualties after all but 8% of its shareholders shunned its £4bn rights issues.
FTSE 100 - Risers British Land Co (BLND) 712.50p +5.32%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 284.25p +5.28%
John Wood Group (WG.) 407.00p +5.24%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,934.00p +5.22%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,244.00p +4.89%
Lonmin (LMI) 2,526.00p +4.81%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,411.00p +4.36%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 206.00p +4.25%
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