Around the World's Markets: London

SHARES, led by New York and takeover speculation, moved ahead with Footsie scoring a 78.8-point gain in busy trading to 5,958.2. Supporting indices also advanced.

Telecoms stocks again dialled new numbers with Vodafone, confirming its interest in AirTouch of the US, ringing up a 61.5p gain to 1,110.5p. Colt Telecom, last year's top-performing share, rose 84p to 1,037p. BT, up 49.5p to 988.5p, was also higher. GEC, on hopes of a defence deal, rose 22p to 555.5p.

Derek Pain, page 17