FTSE 250 continues on all-time high

In London on Monday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4 percent to 5,429.7. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 reached another all-time high close, ending 0.4 percent higher at 7,930.2.

Volume was at 2.5 billion shares traded. Mobile phone operator Vodafone fell 1.8 percent to 151½p when an expected announcement concerning a cash return to shareholders was not forthcoming until interim results are released in November.

Exel gained 0.4 percent to £12.33 on confirmation of a bid worth £3.7 billion from Deutsche Post. In the pharmaceuticals sector, GlaxoSmithKline was up 1.3 percent to £13.80 on the news that its new postmenopausal osteoporosis drug, Bonviva, was approved for market by the European Union.

Crude oil prices that were up substantially helped the oil and gas sector to gains on the day. Oil and gas exploration company Burren Energy added 6.2 percent to 794p on positive interim results and on the news that three of its four wells in a Congo oil field are now online and producing over 52,000 barrels of oil per day.

Oil services group Hunting was up by 1.5 percent to 304½p on rumors that US companies are interested in acquiring it, while Expro International defied trends and lost 3.2 percent to 505p. Elsewhere in the sector, BG Group advanced by 3.1 percent to 539p, and BP and Cairn Energy each gained 1.8 percent, to 665p and £19.14 respectively. Cairn’s share price was an all-time high.