NEW YORK: U.K. stocks were little changed, after posting their biggest weekly drop of the year, as Diageo Plc surged, while Shire Plc retreated.
Diageo jumped 6.9 percent on a report that Brazilian billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann is considering a takeover bid for the liquor giant that owns Guinness. Vodafone Group Plc gained 1.3 percent and BT Group Plc added 1.1 percent. Shire Plc slid 2.3 percent following a Sunday Times report that the drug company recently made an informal takeover approach to Actelion Ltd. that was rebuffed.
The FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.1 percent, or 5.62 points, to 6,810.22 at 8:32 a.m. in London. The broader FTSE All-Share Index rose 0.1 percent, and Ireland’s ISEQ Index also added 0.1 percent.
The U.K.’s benchmark equity gauge slid 2.6 percent last week, its second consecutive weekly decline, amid investor concern that Greece will default on its debt as talks to resolve the crisis dragged on without resolution.
