Commodity trader Glencore (LON:GLEN) gave the market a boost on Monday on talk that it will sell its agricultural business.
The FTSE 100 Index soared 104.92 points to 6234 as traders bid up Glencore by its biggest ever daily gain in Hong Kong.
London-listed shares in the company rose 10 per cent to 104.5p in the first minutes of trading.
Although the group said it didn't know why its stock rose, it followed reports that chief executive Ivan Glasenberg was ready to listen to takeover offers, pushing the company back above the £1 for the first time since its precipitous plunge.
Dealers were also likely to be taking account of last week's statement talking of “proactive steps” being taken to position Glencore to “withstand current commodity market conditions.”
Other miners were up following the news, with Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) gaining 47.5p to 2289.5p, Anglo American (LON:AAL) lifting 17.8p to 571.4p and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) advancing 25.5p to 1067.5p.
MIke van Dulken at Accendo Markets said: "investors - disappointed loyalists and relieved bargain hunters alike - are a little miffed with a mere 10% jump being well short of the 40-70% gains seen in Hong Kong overnight.
"While the Asian jump came from press reports the company said it was open to takeover offers and mulling sales of its agriculture business, the muted London reaction comes from acknowledgement that all companies are open to takeover offers."
Takeover activity was also buoying sentiment with news that support services group Capita (LON:CPI) and private equity outfit Apollo were going head-to-head in a battle for back office services group Xchanging (LON:XCH).
Shares in Capita, which has offered 160p for Xchanging, progressed 18p to 1231p and Xchanging's stock went up by more than half, or 57.5p, to 168.25p. Apollo has proposed a 170p per share offer.
Rolls-Royce (LON:RR.) powered ahead 18p to 722.5p on news that it was cutting another 400 jobs in its embattled marine division, on top of 600 reductions announced in May.
Budget carrier Ryanair (LON:RYA) ticked up €0.15 to €13.05 as September passenger numbers rose 12% to 9.55 million, while its load factor - how full its aircraft were - increased four percentage points to 94%.
British mining services group Hargreaves Services (LON:HSP) subsided 25.25p to 321p as it faced lower thermal coal prices and the liquidation of Teesside steelmaker SSI.
Elsewhere, Trinidad-focused oil group LGO Energy (LON:LGO) raised £1mln to continue exploration work at its Goudron Field. Shares were issued at 0.9p. The company's stock fell 0.15p to 0.9p.
MARKET PREVIEW
London shares are set to trade sharply higher with the markets expected to continue to react positively to a seemingly negative nugget of US data released last week.
A weaker than expected monthly jobs number suggests the potential for an immediate interest rate rise Stateside has receded somewhat given the country’s fragile economic position.
With the Chinese markets close until Wednesday, equities in the region were a little more stable, posting decent gains after those US non-farm payrolls numbers.
The Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was up 1.7% gain, in Australia the ASX was raced ahead 1.9%, while Korea’s Kopsi was a more modest 0.5% higher.
Here in the UK the FTSE 100 is set rise around 100 points on opening to 6,229.98, according to the spread betting firm, IG.
This week it is the turn of the Bank of England to opine on interest rates, although the experts are predicting no change.
Australia and Japan also decide on monetary policy over the coming days, while the US Federal Reserve, whose every word has been scrutinised in minute detail, is set to publish the minutes to its last meeting.
Despite the aforementioned jobs data form the US, it is still expected the Fed will ratchet up interest rates at some point this year.
“If they didn’t enough already, central banks are set to dominate this week’s market focus,” said Japser Lawler of CMC Markets.
Back to the UK and corporate news, which after the unseemly last minute rush to file accounts by last week’s deadline, looks a little thinner on the ground.
Tesco (LON:TSCO) is probably the most interesting of those reporting and its interims on Wednesday will be scrutinised for signs of recovery for the UK’s largest grocer.