Around the World's Markets: London

SHARES closed slightly higher yesterday as takeover rumours in the banking and telecom sectors offset Wall Street's weak opening.

The FTSE-100 finished 14.4 higher at 6428.0, on low volume of less than a 1bn shares. A number of market players preferred to sit on the sidelines after Thursday's large gain. Profit-taking took the FTSE-250 7.8 lower to close at 5784.5. The Small Cap ended 13.9 higher at 2522.2, breaking its trading and closing records for 1999. Market Report, page 19