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The Guardian reports that the FTSE added 13.34 points to reach 6,023.26 earlier today, following on from an encouraging showing in Asia, which was in turn driven by encouraging non-farm payrolls data from the US.
Vodafone confirmed over the weekend its 44 per cent holding in SFR would be sold to Vivendi for around £7 billion, with some analysts predicting the agreement will pave the way for an eventual merger between Vodafone and US firm Verizon.
"This deal marks a major continuation of the tidy-up of the [Vodafone] portfolio," said Morten Singleton of Investec. "We continue to suggest the most logical solution to the US minority position would be a merger of equals with Verizon."
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed up by 0.4 per cent, although sentiment was tempered by lingering uncertainty about Japan's medium to long-term economic outlook.
Posted by Clive Arneil
