London open: FTSE gains as Vodafone, easyJet surge

10th Jul 2026 07:53

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Friday, with Vodafone pacing the gains on the top-flight index on news that French billionaire Xavier Niel will buy a £4.4bn stake in the company, while easyJet surged as a bidding war emerged for the budget airline.

At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was 0.3% firmer at 10,501.18.

Patrick Munnelly a Tickmill Group said: "The Middle East has not disappeared as a risk, but with Brent off its highs and US-Iran technical talks still alive, markets are no longer pricing a straight line from military escalation to global energy disruption."

Brent crude was down 0.6% at $75.84 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 0.5% lower at $71.69.

In equity markets, Vodafone was the top performer on the FTSE 100 on news that Emirates Telecommunications Group will sell its entire stake in the company to French billionaire Xavier Niel for £4.4bn. Under the terms of the deal, E&'s 16.21% stake has been priced at 112.5p per share, a premium to Thursday's closing price of 97.76p.

Vodafone confirmed that the relationship with E& had been terminated, and that its nominee director, Hatem Dowidar, had resigned from the board with immediate effect.

EasyJet surged as a bidding war emerged after the budget airline said it has agreed to be taken over by private equity firm Apollo in a £5.7bn deal which trumps an earlier offer by Castlelake.

EasyJet announced on Monday that it was ready to accept a sweetened £5.5bn takeover offer from Castlelake after the private equity group tabled a fifth offer at 690p a share. However, it has now agreed in principle on the terms of a possible cash offer by Apollo at 715p per share.

EasyJet said the offer from Apollo offers "an attractive combination of value, strategic alignment and long-term stewardship of the business".

"Accordingly, the easyJet board is no longer minded to recommend the Castlelake proposal," it said.

Recruiter Hays was sharply higher after saying it expects full-year earnings to be at the top end of the consensus range as the pace of decline in fee income slowed in the fourth quarter. Pagegroup also rallied.

On the downside, St James's Place tumbled following a Financial News report that one of its largest partner firms, Sovereign Wealth - a £3bn advice firm - is the latest set to leave as the wealth manager faces retention challenges.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,501.18 0.27%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,326.21 0.37%

techMARK (TASX) 5,922.33 0.86%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Vodafone Group (VOD) 109.30p 12.21%

BT Group (BT.A) 190.70p 2.25%

Anglo American (AAL) 3,630.00p 1.88%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,780.00p 1.63%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,741.00p 1.24%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 470.90p 1.20%

Airtel Africa (AAF) 324.60p 1.12%

GSK (GSK) 1,976.50p 1.07%

Land Securities Group (LAND) 665.50p 1.06%

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,858.00p 0.94%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

St James's Place (STJ) 1,194.00p -5.03%

BP (BP.) 479.25p -0.52%

Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 39.76p -0.45%

Abrdn (ABDN) 246.60p -0.40%

IG Group Holdings (IGG) 1,793.00p -0.39%

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,884.00p -0.33%

DCC (CDI) (DCC) 6,245.00p -0.32%

Experian (EXPN) 2,605.00p -0.31%

Admiral Group (ADM) 3,658.00p -0.27%

Autotrader Group (AUTO) 489.30p -0.26%

FTSE 250 - Risers

easyJet (EZJ) 669.00p 14.08%

Pagegroup (PAGE) 127.40p 6.90%

Hays (HAS) 38.94p 5.49%

HGCapital Trust (HGT) 375.00p 3.31%

Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 740.00p 3.21%

TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 319.50p 2.90%

IP Group (IPO) 64.80p 2.77%

Diversified Energy Company (DI) (DEC) 1,034.00p 2.58%

Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 264.00p 2.33%

Dr. Martens (DOCS) 73.50p 2.07%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Harworth Group (HWG) 120.20p -3.53%

Johnson Service Group (JSG) 157.10p -3.13%

Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 705.50p -2.74%

Avon Technologies (AVON) 1,668.00p -2.68%

SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 37.10p -1.98%

Victrex plc (VCT) 657.00p -1.50%

Premier Foods (PFD) 199.60p -1.49%

Currys (CURY) 156.50p -1.45%

JPMorgan Emerging Markets Dividend Income (JEMI) 205.00p -1.44%

Kainos Group (KNOS) 758.50p -1.30%