Icelandair stake in easyJet keeps rising

Travel and tourism shares soared yesterday as London’s main equity indices showed moderate gains. The FTSE 100 index added 18.9 points to end the day at 4583.4k, while the FTSE 250 gained 35.4 points and closed at 6277. The biggest news of the day, once again, was at easyJet, which jumped 11.75p to close at 158.75p as Icelandair continued to buy stock in the no-frills carrier. As reported, the Icelandic carrier bought 8.4 per cent of the company last week, fuelling takeover or merger talk. Now, The Guardian reports, the stake has risen to more than 10 per cent. The newspaper quotes dealers as predicting that Icelandair will keep buying stock until it owns about 15 per cent of easyJet. Alpha Airports 81.5p DOWN 0.5p BAA 569p UP 7p British Airways 206.25p UP 2.5p Carnival 2874p UP 16p De Vere 420p NO CHANGE EasyJet 158.75p UP 11.75p ebookers 222.75p UP 5.75p EuroDisney 18p NO CHANGE Eurotunnel 20.25p NO CHANGE First Choice 131p UP 0.75p Hilton Group 258p DOWN 3p Holidaybreak 539.5p UP 4.5p Intercontinental 661p DOWN 4.5p Lastminute.com 104.25p DOWN 0.75p MyTravel 4.25p UP 0.25p P&O 271p DOWN 6.25p Rank Group 290.75p DOWN 1.5p Ryanair 265.57p UP 8.52p Stagecoach 90.75p DOWN 1.25p TBI 71.5p NO CHANGE Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd