Feb 9 (Reuters) - UK's FTSE 100 hit an all-time high on Thursday, buoyed by a slate of upbeat earnings and merger talks tied to Standard Chartered, while Entain shares tumbled on news U.S. casino operator MGM was ending talks to takeover the betting firm.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) rose 0.7% to touch a record high of 7,943.68, while the midcap FTSE 250 index (.FTMC) inched up 0.1%.
AstraZeneca (AZN.L) jumped 4.3%, set for its best day in nearly a year, after the drugmaker forecast earnings growth in 2023.
Unilever (ULVR.L) rose 0.4% after the consumer goods giant reported quarterly underlying sales growth above expectations.
Standard Chartered (STAN.L) jumped 9.0% to the top of FTSE 100 after Bloomberg News reported that First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB.AD) is pressing ahead with an all-cash bid of $30 billion-$35 billion for the Asia-focussed bank.
"Investors have been looking towards the UK market over the last year as an attractive geography in the search for potential takeover targets, given the depreciation of the pound and the corresponding increased attractiveness of sterling-priced valuations," said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor.
"The recent revival of the pound could spur investors to move quickly as valuations become richer again."
Entain (ENT.L) tumbled 10.1% after MGM's (MGM.N) chief executive officer said on Wednesday that the company had "moved on" from the gambling firm amid speculation of a takeover.
"We see a short-term negative Entain share price reaction given the prolonged period of discussion about the possibility of an MGM/Entain combination," Jefferies analysts wrote in a note.
British American Tobacco (BATS.L) fell 5.6% after it reported full-year results and said it expects to complete the sale of its Russian business to its local partner in 2023.
Watches of Switzerland Group (WoS) (WOSG.L) slumped 13.1% after it gave its quarterly trading update.
(This story has been corrected to say Watches of Switzerland Group gave quarterly trading update, not full-year in the third bullet and last paragraph.)
