London’s FTSE 100 rose on Monday, led by HSBC after its first-half profit more than doubled, while a host of merger and acquisition activity helped push mid-cap stocks to record highs.
HSBC Holdings gained 1.3% and was the top boost to the blue-chip index after it reported forecast-beating first-half pretax profit that more than doubled from last year when it made huge provisions for pandemic-related bad loans.
The FTSE 100 rose 1%, led by banks, oil stocks and base metal miners.
The domestically focussed mid-cap index climbed 1.5%, led by Meggitt and Sanne Group on takeover deals.
British engineering group Meggitt surged 59.8% after U.S. industrial firm Parker-Hannifin said it agreed to buy the firm in a deal valuing it at 6.3 billion pounds.
UK asset manager Sanne Group Plc was the second-biggest gainer on the mid-cap index, up 8.4%, after it said it might get a $2 billion takeover bid from Apex.