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* William Hill jumps 43.5%; Apollo, Caesars Ent make offer s
* UK's COVID-19 cases see highest single-day jump
* Miners, banks, oil stocks decline
* FTSE 100 slips 0.3%; FTSE 250 rises 1.4%
* FTSE 100 falls for second consecutive week, worst in eight
(Updates to close)
By Susan Mathew and Shashank Nayar
Sept 25 (Reuters) - A near 44% surge in bookmaker William
Hill on takeover offers lifted consumer stocks on Friday,
helping UK shares outperform European peers and end a tumultuous
week on a high note.
Without disclosing the value, buyout firm Apollo and
U.S. casino operator Caesars Entertainment made offers
for the British betting firm, which had a market value of 2.28
billion pounds ($2.90 billion) at Thursday's close.
"William Hill had been one of the big gainers since March
among UK equities... The news of course has done what bid
approaches always do, namely lift the rest of the sector as
well," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
William Hill's peers GVC, Flutter Entertainment
and 888 Holdings rose between 6.8% and 16.7%.
The moves helped London's mid-caps index end up 1.4%
in its best day in three weeks.
The blue-chips FTSE 100 index rose 0.3% but losses
for miners and oil stocks, which
tracked commodity prices lower, and banks, which
extended losses to a fourth straight session, kept gains in
check.
But the moves stood out as Europe declined with the
pan-European STOXX 600 index closing down 0.1%, while
German shares lost 1%.
Fading hopes of an economic recovery, anticipation of severe
restrictions in the UK to curb a resurgence in COVID-19 cases
and the scaling back of government job support hit sentiment
this week. Both UK indexes lost nearly 3% - the worst week in
eight for the FTSE 100.
The prospect of Brexit without a trade deal with the
European Union also adds to the uncertainty, overshadowing
support from past stimulus measures.
Auto makers, miners and insurers
were among the biggest laggards. The general
retailers index posted weekly gains as retail sales
picked up, while a survey on Friday showed consumer confidence
in September rose to its highest level since March.
(Reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; editing by
Uttaresh.V and Andrew Heavens)
