In the London equities markets on Monday, the FTSE 100 had gained 0.1 percent to 5,366.0 by mid-afternoon, while the FTSE 250 was up by 0.6 percent to 7,894.1.

Once again, speculation of mergers and acquisitions within the utilities sector took the spotlight. Scottish Power gained 2.5 percent to 569½p on a Sunday report that Scottish & Southern Energy could be poised to make a bid for it. S&SE lost 0.1 percent to £10.11 on the talk.

Centrica was up 1.1 percent to 262.85p despite issuing a profit warning on Friday and having Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein reiterate its “sell” rating for its shares as reports surfaced over the weekend that German company RWE might be considering bidding for the company.

Elsewhere, Rentokil Initial dropped 0.3 percent as investors consider the pursuit of the company by businessman Gerry Robinson.

Advertising agency WPP gained 1 percent to 579p as Morgan Stanley upgraded their shares from “equal-weight” to “overweight”.

Cruise ship company Carnival benefited from an assessment by Barrons that the sector might be undervalued due to the increasing popularity of cruises, gaining 2.1 percent to £28.90.