{"id":138266,"title":"FTSE 100 Opens Higher as Vodafone Surges and easyJet Jumps on Apollo Proposal","publisher":"Share Talk","author":"sharetalk","published":"2026-07-10T07:45:32+00:00","modified":"2026-07-10T07:45:32+00:00","canonical_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/ftse-100-opens-higher-as-vodafone-surges-and-easyjet-jumps-on-apollo-proposal/","markdown_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/ftse-100-opens-higher-as-vodafone-surges-and-easyjet-jumps-on-apollo-proposal.md","json_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/ftse-100-opens-higher-as-vodafone-surges-and-easyjet-jumps-on-apollo-proposal.json","category":"B2B","categories":["B2B","Blogs","Technology","Technology, Media & Telecoms"],"featured_image":"https://i0.wp.com/www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/bull-4-dec-23.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&quality=89&ssl=1","format":"news","language":"en-GB","content":"The FTSE 100 opened around 30 points higher at 10,503 on Friday, led by a sharp rise in Vodafone shares.\n\nVodafone jumped 11.7% following news that French billionaire Xavier Niel has acquired a £4.4 billion stake in the telecoms group.\n\nBT was also higher, rising 1.8% on positive sector read-across from Vodafone.\n\nProperty developers, airlines and utilities were among the other sectors trading on the front foot.\n\nAmong the FTSE 100 heavyweights, miners provided further support, with Rio Tinto and Anglo American both up around 1.5%, while the major banks were modestly positive.\n\nSt James’s Place was the biggest faller on the index, although there was no immediately obvious company-specific catalyst for the decline.\n\nAstraZeneca fell a further 1.6%, extending losses following Thursday’s disappointing phase three trial result for Wainua.\n\nOn the FTSE 250, easyJet surged 13.29% to 666.73p after the airline said its board was minded to recommend a £7.15-per-share proposal from Apollo, ahead of a rival £6.90-per-share approach from Castlelake.\n\nThe Apollo proposal values easyJet at £5.7 billion, although it does not yet constitute a firm offer under the UK Takeover Code.\n\nElsewhere in Europe, France’s CAC 40 was broadly flat and Germany’s DAX slipped 0.07%, while the pan-European Stoxx 600 edged 0.08% higher."}