LONDON MARKETS: Smith & Nephew Pulls FTSE 100 Toward Third Straight Win

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Smith & Nephew PLC shares led U.K. stocks higher Thursday as speculation about a takeover of the artificial-joints maker stayed alive.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.2% to 6,865, on track to post a third consecutive winning session.

Topping the benchmark was Smith & Nephew, its shares popping up 3.2% after Stryker Corp.'s (SYK) chief executive told Fox Business the medical-devices company had been working on a bid for its London-based rival.

Kevin Lobo said Stryker was at the preliminary-evaluation stage when the U.K. Takeover Panel asked it to declare its intentions toward Smith & Nephew on Wednesday, when the Financial Times reported Stryker had hired banks and was working on lining up financing for a potential bid.

Smith and Nephew's shares jumped 18% on Wednesday, but pared gains after Stryker issued a statement saying it hadn't made an acquisition offer. Smith & Nephew shares still finished higher by 4.3% on Wednesday, becoming the best performer on the FTSE.

Credit Suisse noted to clients on Thursday that Stryker reserved the right to announce or participate in an offer for Smith & Nephew within six months, under the U.K. takeover code. In its assessment of a theoretical merger, Credit Suisse said "depending on the capital structure applied and the prevailing debt-financing costs, we think there would be substantial additional non-operational, purely financial, gearing-related benefits in such a transaction."

Weir Group PLC shares were perched high among FTSE advancers as well, rising 1.6% the day after the Scottish engineering firm ditched its pursuit of Finnish rival Metso Oyj . Weir said Metso's board wouldn't engage in talks about an improved all-share offer, as it considered the bid as one that unvalued its prospects. The deal would have been valued at $15.4 billion, based on the combined market capitalizations of the companies.

Also heading higher, Tesco PLC was up 1.4% after the supermarket chain said it's completed the formation of a joint venture with consumer-goods company China Resources Enterprise Ltd. .

In Britain's key housing market, data released by the government showed more than 27,000 people have purchased homes through the Help to Buy program. The "vast majority" of sales were outside of London "at prices well below the national average." First-time home buyers represented 85% of the program's sales.

Housing stocks were down during Thursday's session, with Barratt Developments PLC and Persimmon PLC each off by 1.3%.

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