BT Group plc (LON: BT.A), Rexam PLC (LON: REX) and Spectris plc (LON: SXS) all rise in response to news.
The FTSE 100 started hesitantly, but approaching midday it is up 20 points to 6,399, having earlier broken the 6,400 level to set a new 52-week high of 6,412 points -- its highest since 2008. Positive results from some FTSE 100 companies, together with improving economic sentiment, appear to lie behind to rise.
So which shares are on the up? Here are three constituents of the indices rising today:
BT
Shares in BT Group (LSE: BT-A) (NYSE: BT.US) perked up 4p (1.5%) to 281p on the news that the telecoms giant has been successful in its bidding for 4G spectrum. For the sum of £186 million, BT has secured the rights to 2 x15 MHz of FDD and 20 MHz of TDD 2.6 GHz spectrum, with the license good for at least 20 years. According to chief executive Ian Livingstone, the bandwidth will be used to complement BT's existing strategy rather than to build a new national network.
The auctions, which saw rival Vodafone also succeed in its bid, raised a total of £2.34bn -- a far cry from the £22bn raised by 3G auctions in 2000.
Rexam
Final results from Rexam (LSE: REX) boosted the share price by 26p (5.4%) to 503p this morning. Sales at the consumer packaging company rose by 2% to £4.3 billion, with underlying pre-tax profit up 1% to £418 million and earnings per share up 5% to 35.5p. A total dividend of 15.2p was announced, up 6% and representing a yield of 3%.
The period saw the disposal of the firm's Personal Care division, with £395 million being returned to shareholders.
Spectris
Spectris (LSE: SXS) shares picked up 19p (0.8%) to 2,444p, taking the price up more than 40% over the past year to a new 52-week high, after the instrumentation and controls developer released full-year results.
At constant exchange rates, sales for the year to December 2012 were up 13% to £1.23 billion, with adjusted pre-tax profit up the same percentage to £217 million and adjusted earnings per share up 11% to 137.5p. The company lifted its dividend by 16% to 39p per share, for a yield of 1.6%.
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> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool has recommended shares in Vodafone.
