FTSE 100 movers: CRH surges on Holcim offer, Weir Group hit by downgrade

UK stocks rebounded from the previous session's sell-off as gains made by tobacco, construction, electronics and utilities stocks outweighed weakness in mining and industrial metals.

As of 13:45, the FTSE 100 was trading points 47.1 points higher at 6,996.

Shares in building materials group CRH surged after finally entering into a binding offer with European cement giants Holcim and Lafarge to buy assets worth €6.5bn as part of their proposed merger.

Others in the building and construction sectors were also in demand, including Ashtead, Travis Perkins, Wolseley and Persimmon.

Imperial Tobacco gained after being given the green light by US trade regulators for its $4.7bn asset purchase from the merging Lorillard and Reynolds. The deal, which still must clear some smaller legal hurdles, is expected to complete within weeks.

IAG was lifted by news that the Irish government agreed to sell its 25% stake in Aer Lingus, allowing the British Airways owner to officially launch its €1.36bn bid for the Irish airline.

Engineer Weir Group was in the red after being hit with a downgrade to 'hold' by analysts at Deutsche Bank.

Risers
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,216.00p +2.70%
CRH (CRH) 1,823.00p +2.65%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,359.00p +2.28%
Wolseley (WOS) 4,088.00p +2.15%
SSE (SSE) 1,680.00p +2.13%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 2,238.00p +2.10%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,648.00p +1.98%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,216.00p +1.93%
G4S (GFS) 303.00p +1.92%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,774.00p +1.80%

Fallers
Old Mutual (OML) 226.80p -1.82%
Glencore (GLEN) 285.60p -1.43%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,979.00p -1.15%
SABMiller (SAB) 3,528.00p -0.83%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,028.00p -0.82%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,364.50p -0.76%
Fresnillo (FRES) 730.50p -0.75%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,492.00p -0.67%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 255.80p -0.20%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,080.00p -0.14%