Gilts

Gilt prices followed their usual habit of doing the opposite of the equity market yesterday, losing ground as shares soared but ending slightly up while the FTSE 100 closed a little down as investors rushed back to safer government bonds. The March long gilt future was up 2 ticks at 110.18. The yield on ten-year gilts was off 1 basis point at 4.57 per cent.

Rumour of the day

Drug industry chat is that America’s Biogen, which tried but failed to sell itself last year at the prompting of the activist shareholder Carl Icahn, may be pondering a bid for Genmab, a €2 billion Danish biotech group trialling HuMax, a leukaemia treatment. GlaxoSmithKline has the licence for this drug and may have to counterbid to protect its position.

Deal of the day

Zhengling Gloria He, director of China Biodiesel International, bought 105,000 shares at prices between 20½p and 22p. The company refines diesel from waste cooking oil. Its shares were flat at 20½p, having collapsed from 115p since an August profit warning based on delays in building plants and the soaring price of cooking oil.

Bet of the day

AstraZeneca, the Anglo-Swedish drugs group, has fallen from £26 in October to £21.80 yesterday on fears over gaps in its pipeline. David Brennan, chief executive, will have to pull some rabbits out of the hat with results on Thursday to trigger a rally. Cantor Alphabet offers 7-2 against the price topping £24 at the close on February 29.

Tiddler to watch

Northern Petroleum gained 6½p to 146½p after Edison Investment, its broker, said that the explorer’s assets, including proved and probable reserves in the Netherlands and Italy, were worth £427 million, compared with its current market value of £77 million. This puts its target price at £4, even after discounting for development risk.

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