Vodafone pushes UK's FTSE in sight of all-time high

Britain's top shares rose this morning, lifted by index heavyweight Vodafone and investors welcoming possible restructuring plans at Royal Bank of Scotland.

Mobile operator Vodafone rose 2.3 per cent to 235 pence and was the most traded share on Britain’s blue chip FTSE 100 index .

Traders highlighted comments by BofA Merrill Lynch and UBS that Vodafone was a potential bid target after it completes the sale of its stake in US mobile phone company Verizon Wireless.

UBS raised its target price on Vodafone to 275 pence from 260 pence.

Vodafone added the most points to the FTSE, with the index up by 12.35 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 6,825.34 points in mid-session trading, taking its rally since an early February low to almost 7 per cent.

This put the FTSE on track for weekly gains of around 2.5 per cent, its steepest weekly rise since December.

State-owned lender Royal Bank of Scotland also rose as analysts welcomed reports that the bank will cut its staff by up to a quarter, which could help lower RBS’ costs.

"The government sell-off of Royal Bank feels a little way off but if this is as radical as we think it's going to be, then I think it'll help in that process," said Numis analyst Mike Trippitt.

Shares in housebuilder Persimmon also rose 1.7 per cent, as JP Morgan analysts tipped the sector to continue to benefit from a pick-up in the UK housebuilding industry.

Reuters