(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) A Friday afternoon rally saw the FTSE100 finally burst through 7000 marker to set a new record high.
Bars across the City will have buzzed with the sound of smart-phone vibrations as the blue-chip benchmark pushed through the key psychological level after weeks of anticipation.
The latest record breaking rally came as Wall Street resumed its advance and as investors in London were buoyed by M&A activity.
The big mover was Irish building materials company CRH () as it finally received the news that rivals Holcim and Lafarge had salvaged their merger.
The reported $44bn merger is set to create the world’s largest cement firm but had looked in doubt this week after Holcim wanted the terms renegotiated.
CRH had already agreed to buy €6.5bn worth of assets from the merged company assets that would make it the world's third biggest building materials supplier behind German company Shaefer Holding International and Japanese-based Daifuku.
Shares in CRH rose nearly 6% to 1855p which helped to drive Footsie towards its best weekly rise in two months.
Homebuilder () was the biggest loser on FTSE 100 after statistics for January showed a sharp dip in UK construction activity. Its share price fell more than 5% to 1685p.
Banking giant Lloyds () seems to be the big winner from the Sabadell takeover of TSB.
The 340p per share (£107bn total) is 30% higher than TSB’s float price last June and Lloyds looks set to cash in as it still owns 50% of the company. Shares in Lloyds are rising gradually up nearly 1% to 80p.
There was no such good news for high-street darling () as N+1 Singer downgraded the company to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’. Its share price fell nearly 1.25% to 79p.
The broker sees tough weather comparisons and new foreign exchange headwinds ahead despite acknowledging the recent rally in shares and anticipated growth in 2016
The big mover of the day was Karelian Diamonds () as shares in the AIM-listed company shot up more than 50% to 1.5p after the miner announced the discovery of a potential new diamond source in Finland.
Elsewhere North Sea oil junior Trap Oil () rose 4% to 0.8p after new tax breaks were given to the UK oil industry in this week’s budget.
Other small cap oil risers included () more than 16% higher to 6.1p on a licence award and New World Oil and Gas () up 3.7% to 0.14p as it was granted a six months extension for its licences in offshore Denmark.
The biggest faller of the day so far was online advertiser and sales provider () as the company announced a first half net loss today. Its shares were down 55% to 58p.
Siberian gold miner () saw shares jump more than 18% to 6p after boss Peter Hambro announced the completion of a protracted refinancing of the company.
Liberian-based gold exploration company () revealed it has secured funding of US$8.9mln to fast-track development of its Yanfolila gold project in Mali.
The funding package comprised a share placing and a subscription agreement with mining contractor BCM meant shares fell 2.5% to 31p.
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