Trade was brisk in London on Friday as 4.2 billion shares traded hands and the FTSE 100 was close to a six-year high. The 100 ended the day up 0.4 percent to 6,310.9, a gain of 1.3 percent on the week. The FTSE 250, meanwhile, added 1.1 percent on the day and 2 percent on the week to close at an all-time high of 11,343.3.
The supermarkets sector was driven by rumors that private equity is interested in J Sainsbury and especially interested in the properties it holds. Sainsbury added 13.9 percent on the day to 507p, its highest share price in eight years, while fellow grocers Tesco and Wm Morrison were up 3.7 percent to 435p and 5.9 percent to 300¾p respectively.
Elsewhere in the retail sector, Kingfisher was up 3.5 percent to 252½p, while Marks & Spencer was 4.1 percent higher to 717½p.
The interest in Sainsbury for its properties also helped other property backed stocks. Pubs operators Enterprise Inns and Mitchells & Butlers were among those seeing gains. Enterprise added 2.8 percent to 665½p, while Mitchells & Butlers gained 4.4 percent to 736p. Mitchells & Butlers was also boosted by its addition by Goldman Sachs to the broker’s “conviction buy” list.
In the tobacco sector, Imperial Tobacco closed at an all-time high £21.75, a gain of 4 percent that came on an analyst’s report that it could be a bids target for Philip Morris International after it separates from Altria in March.