FTSE 100 movers: RSA rockets, Hikma higher

At 1415 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.81% to 6,557.62, with only a dozen of the blue chip constituents in the red.

As soon as markets opened, RSA Insurance moved to the top of the leaderboard on Tuesday on the news that Swiss giant Zurich was evaluating a potential offer for its London-listed rival. Later a statement from RSA denying that it had held any bid talks had negligible effect on the shares.

Drug developer Hikma Pharmaceuticals was also flying high after it signed a deal to buy two firms from Boehringer Ingelheim in transactions worth a total of $2.25bn in a cash and shares deal that would make Hikma the sixth biggest company by revenue in the US generics market.

Shares in engineer GKN cranked skywards after it agreed to acquire Dutch aerospace supply firm Fokker Technologies Group for an enterprise value of €706m and posted better-than-expected first-half operating profit. GKN, which will fund the deal through a £200m share placing and existing debt facilities, said the transaction was an “excellent strategic and cultural fit”. Fellow engineer Weir was benefitting from M&A read-across.

Broadcaster ITV was another leaving shareholders beaming after delivering a strong financial performance for the first half of the year, with an interim dividend up 36% on the back of 5% growth in net advertising revenue. However, the television broadcaster's audience share was the lowest for 15 years, which it hoped to amend in the second half thanks to the Rugby World Cup.

Shares in clothing retailer Next registered a solid increase on the back of improved sales and profit guidance for the year. Thanks to the warmer UK weather before the recent July rains set in, second-quarter sales were boosted, with home brand full price sales for the 26 weeks to 25 July up 3.5%.

Royal Mail was one of the few major fallers as an accusation from recently active regulator Ofcom that Royal Mail has "breached competition law" in the way it dealt with door-to-door letter delivery rivals. The watchdog said the charges set by the company to carry rivals letters amounted to "unlawful price discrimination".

FTSE 100 - Risers
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 498.30p +13.82%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,242.00p +7.79%
GKN (GKN) 317.60p +7.66%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,848.00p +3.75%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,518.00p +2.92%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 366.20p +2.81%
ITV (ITV) 270.60p +2.62%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 414.60p +2.37%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,552.00p +2.37%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,130.00p +2.29%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Royal Mail (RMG) 490.10p -2.76%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 3,729.00p -1.71%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,048.00p -1.13%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 985.50p -1.00%
Centrica (CNA) 271.20p -0.91%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 180.00p -0.77%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,171.00p -0.47%
National Grid (NG.) 832.10p -0.43%
Tesco (TSCO) 213.75p -0.26%
Fresnillo (FRES) 624.00p -0.24%