The bid frenzy in London continued yesterday, with a mixture of reality and rumour driving stocks sharply higher, especially the news of fundamental restructuring in the French banking industry.

The takeover by Societe Generale of Paribas, two of the most powerful French banks, and the potential for even more domestic and panEuropean moves, ignited many of the UK banks. Analysts revisited the potential merger stories involving Barclays and NatWest, among others.

Adding to the increasing excitement in the financial sector was the confirmation of weekend reports that Axa, the French insurance group, had mounted a strategic and tactical coup in getting Guardian Royal Exchange to agree to its last-minute bid.

"You can't take your eyes off the market for a second without more hard bids or bid approaches being announced; that is what is driving the market," said the head of trading at one London agency broker.

Turnover in equities ran up to 1.21 billion shares.