Vodafone Share News (VOD)

LSE is spending $2.7bn in cash on buying Frank Russell Company in a deal that will combine the group's Russell and FTSE index businesses. Investors seemingly gave a thumbs up to the acquisition with shares rising strongly despite the announcement that it will be part-financed by a $1.6bn rights issue, which is intrinsically dilutive.Housebuilders Persimmon, Barratt Developments and Travis Perkins all jumped strongly as investors reacted to the new Bank of England measures to cool the housing market. Alastair Stewart from Westhouse Securities said that the measures were "less draconian than many observers have feared".Oil and gas group Petrofac rose on the news it has signed a framework agreement with infrastructure investment firm First Reserve to create PetroFirst Infrastructure Partners, which will acquire a number of existing assets from Petrofac's Integrated Energy Services (IES) division, in addition to several new energy infrastructure projects. As part of the venture's first transaction, First Reserve will buy 80% of Petrofac's deployed and contracted floating production facilities for a total initial consideration of around $450m.Vodafone climbed on the back of an upgrade from Macquarie from 'neutral' to 'outperform' and a 15p increase in its price target to 220p. Heading the other way was Barclays after confirming that it is subject to a lawsuit from the New York Attorney General related to alleged fraud in the bank's 'dark pool' equity-trading business.Emerging markets-focused counterpart StanChart slumped after saying it faced difficult trading conditions across the global financial markets during the first six months of 2014. Revenues in the first half are expected to be down by a "mid single-digit percentage" on last year, while operating profits have fallen around 20%.It was disappointing news for AstraZeneca shareholders after an advisory committee to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted 11 to two that current evidence from clinical studies does not support an accelerated approval for use of olaparib as a maintenance treatment for women with a specific type of ovarian cancer. Imperial Tobacco failed to impress with its intention to float shares in its subsidiary Logista at between €12.50 to €15.50 per share, representing a market cap of around €1,859m. FTSE 100 - RisersLondon Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,977.00p +5.72%Persimmon (PSN) 1,253.00p +4.50%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 361.40p +4.36%ITV (ITV) 176.00p +3.83%IMI (IMI) 1,492.00p +2.54%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,620.00p +2.47%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,228.00p +2.42%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,046.00p +2.32%GKN (GKN) 369.60p +2.27%Vodafone Group (VOD) 194.00p +2.21%FTSE 100 - FallersBarclays (BARC) 211.80p -7.91%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,204.00p -4.25%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,035.00p -1.76%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 594.00p -1.26%ARM Holdings (ARM) 876.00p -1.13%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,484.00p -1.08%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,818.00p -1.01%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 181.70p -0.98%easyJet (EZJ) 1,460.00p -0.95%Aviva (AV.) 499.00p -0.89%NR