Market: One Man and his upgrade lifts shares

Shares in Man Group added a stonking 14 per cent yesterday as a broker upgrade and takeover rumours combined to lift the previously beleaguered stock.

Europe’s biggest hedge fund manager was upgraded by Societe Generale to “buy” from “hold” as the bank said a recent negative swing in the firm’s share performance was overdone.

Earlier this week, UBS said the group was a prime takeover target with potential for a 50 per cent premium. Shares in Man yesterday added 13.25p to 107p.

The performance helped the FTSE 100 Index shrug off a double whammy of bad news from Spain, which saw its credit rating cut by two notches and unemployment hit its highest level in almost 20 years, at 24 per cent.

Michael Hewson, senior analyst at CMC Markets, said: “European markets have held up fairly well despite the sovereign downgrade of Spain by Standard and Poor’s.”

Banks were among the risers as the Footsie added about 28.4 points to 5,777.1. Barclays was up 5 per cent, or 10.1p, at 223.1p despite a stormy annual meeting as shareholders extracted pledges for action on pay and bonuses.

Royal Bank of Scotland rose 0.8p at 24.4p but Lloyds Banking Group was slightly lower, down 0.3p at 31.2p, after the taxpayer-backed bank revealed it was no longer in exclusive talks with the Co-op over a bid for 632 branches it is being forced to spin off.

Among the Scottish stocks, Omega Diagnostics jumped 15 per cent or 2p to 15.5p.

Investors had not reacted to a bullish broker note on the firm by Seymour pierce earlier in the week, which set a target price of 25p, after the Alva-based medical kit maker last week predicted a 40 per cent sales rise in its current financial year.

New York: Wall Street rose last night to post its best weekly gains in more than a month as stronger-than-expected earnings from Amazon and Expedia reinforced confidence in corporate strength.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 23.69 points, or 0.18 per cent, to finish the day on 13,228.31 while the broader S&P 500 Index gained 3.38 points, or 0.24 per cent, to close at 1,403.36. The Nasdaq Composite rose 18.59 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 3,069.20.