Sector movers: M&A hopes lift telecoms as BT and Vodafone gain

Continuing bid speculation pushed stocks in the telecoms sector higher on Wednesday with heavyweights BT and Vodafone both on the rise.BT, up 2.4% by late afternoon, was extending recent gains after it was confirmed that the fixed-line telecoms provider was in talks with at least two groups about buying their UK mobile phone networks.While BT had previously announced it was in discussions with Telefonica, which owns O2, Deutsche Telekom and Orange confirmed on Wednesday that they were also in talks with the group about selling their EE joint venture.Analysts estimated that EE could potentially be worth £10bn.Numerous other rumours surround the sector, including that Vodafone may acquire TalkTalk or may merge with Sky or may merge with Liberty Global, or that Sky may buy a UK mobile operator, though Sky and Vodafone are already in a trial partnership in a quad-play deal.As broker Charles Stanley said, these "are not new ideas, but are being resuscitated".Nevertheless, analyst Tom Gidley-Kitchin said BT's confirmation that it was in discussions has "generated speculation over whether a deal might happen and, more significantly, about whether it trigger off further, reactive mergers".He said: "Most national telecom markets are seeing a process of convergence, whereby telecom companies are offering, and customers are looking for, a combined bundle of (some or all of) fixed, mobile, broadband and TV services."Regarding Vodafone, whose shares were up 1%, Gidley-Kitchin said an acquisition of Sky would be a "very large move" for the group and could cause a number of competition issues."However, an enhanced partnership with Sky could be mutually beneficial and not necessarily anti-competitive," he said. Top performing sectors so far todayFixed Line Telecommunications 4,608.73 +2.20%Electricity 9,995.12 +1.12%Mobile Telecommunications 5,086.81 +0.66%Food Producers & Processors 8,113.76 +0.60%General Retailers 2,831.26 +0.33%Bottom performing sectors so far todayIndustrial Metals & Mining 1,513.13 -6.75%Automobiles & Parts 7,858.24 -1.23%Travel & Leisure 7,649.59 -1.14%Forestry & Paper 11,514.58 -1.02%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 20,031.11 -0.77%