Shares in insurer Legal & General rose 3 percent on Wednesday, hitting a near two-year high and outperforming UK peers, with traders citing market talk of bid interest from Zurich Financial.
Legal & General declined to comment. The UK insurance sector has been buoyed recently by merger and acquisition speculation, after Aviva earlier this week said it had rejected a 5 billion pound bid approach from RSA for some of its core non-life operations.
On Tuesday, traders also cited talk that France’s AXA might be interested in Aviva. More than 14 million Legal & General shares changed hands by 1049 GMT, against a 90-day daily average of 24.6 million.
London, Aug 18 (Reuters)
