Market Report: Just Eat announces plans to buy local peer Menulog for £445m

'Given the hefty price tag, though, it might take some time for Just Eat to digest and have the appetite for further acquisitions'

The takeaway firm Just Eat has announced plans to enter the Australian and New Zealand markets (Getty Images)

Most attention was on the election result, but shareholders on the FTSE 250 mid-cap index were still watching the usual updates.

The online takeaway firm Just Eat announced plans to enter the Australian and New Zealand markets by buying local peer Menulog for £445m, to be financed by an equity issue.

Jonathan Buxton, the head of consumer and retail at Cavendish Corporate Finance, said: “Given the hefty price tag, though, it might take some time for Just Eat to digest and have the appetite for further acquisitions.” The company was at the bottom of the index, dropping 59.40p to 436.7p.

The Hedge fund Man Group fell 1.3p to 177.7p. The group said it retained “a degree of caution on the outlook for first-half flows” and the City failed to get too excited, despite funds under management climbing 7 per cent to $78.1bn as at 31 March.

The market was kinder on the FTSE 250 payment services company PayPoint, which rose 6.5p to 864.5p. The gains came after the business appointed board member Nick Wiles as its new chairman. He replaces Warren Tucker.

Technology company Laird increased 32.7p to 389.9p on the back of a 25 per cent hike in first quarter revenue to £149m. A note from JP Morgan analyst Alexander Mees said: “Laird is well placed to deliver steady earnings growth driven by the proliferation of high-capability wireless-enabled mobile devices.”

On the FTSE 100 the leader board was dominated by politically sensitive stocks where confidence had returned after the threat of a Labour government had been lifted. These included housebuilders Persimmon, Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey.

Randgold Resources fell, a day after it said its first quarter profits had been affected by higher exploration costs. It was 11p lower at 4,764p. The FTSE 100 index was up 2.32 per cent to 7,046.82

Jasper Lawler, analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: “The reason stocks jumped so much is that a majority government is perceived to reduce uncertainty and because a majority simply wasn’t expected.”