Sharewatch: Cable & Wireless Lifted By New Ofcom Plea

Cable & Wireless was seen in focus yesterday rising by 3.7% after dropping its longstanding demand for the break-up of BT. The telecoms carrier now wants communications regulator, Ofcom, to force its competitor into a full internal separation of its retail and wholesale businesses.

Carlton and Granada continued to benefit from Tuesday’s news that their long awaited merger would go ahead unchallenged after shareholders gave the deal their unanimous support in a series of extraordinary general meetings. The former was seen up 5.18% and the later climbed 4.81% (see ITV Merger Receives Final Green Light From Shareholders).

Meanwhile, WPP was pushed higher by ongoing talk of advertising budgets recovering from the ongoing trough. The global advertising and marketing group saw stock rise by 3.20% to close at 612˝p.

Retail stocks dominated trading in the wider market yesterday as investors sought out cyclical stocks for a second day. The FTSE 100 close up 0.4% at 4,461.4 and the FTSE 250 added 0.9% to close at 6,016.1.

The closing prices of media company shares on Wednesday were: