Video games retailer Electronics Boutique, 9p lower to 81p missed the hi-tech boat amid rumours of slow sales of Sega's Dreamcast system.On-line yellow pages Scoot logged on to a 9p rise to a best-ever 57.75p Brave dealers talked of a 65p-per-share bid. Bad results from German rival BASF sent chemical giant ICI 31p lower to 618p.The FTSE 250 soared 45 to 5896.5, helped by its hi-tech constituents. Rival Granada, 39.5p better at 563.5p, was supported by growing acquisition talk.Kingfisher, 15p down to 636.5p led the retailers lower amid fears of a slowdown in its French operations. Beleaguered Somerfield shed 10p to an all-time low of 84p after unveiling plans to sell some of its stores, while Marks & Spencer, 4.25p down to an eight-year-low of 268.25p, was caught in the malaise. ITV group Carlton rose 21.75p to 470.5p on wild rumours of a bid from a foreign rival, possibly Italian group Mediaset. The price of the offering, to be announced today, should be at a slight discount to the share price.Cable group Telewest beamed 20.75p higher to 305p after solid third quarter results and inevitable talk of a bid from NTL Media stocks were in the spotlight. A placing of 14.7m share to finance the pounds 352m deal was completed in less than a day by broker DKB.

Rehashed rumours of a bid from Germany's Siemens were also heard.Energis jumped 51p to 2200p after buying a Dutch rival. The Dow helped London with a slight increase, but for once, most of the focus was domestic.GEC, now a telecom company, rang up a 77p rise to a record 819.5p after US rival Cisco came up with positive results. The leading index recaptured the 6,500 level for the first time since July, finishing 104.4 higher at 6551.4.Turnover, at over 2bn shares, was the second-highest of the year, thanks to Securicor's mammoth volume and aggressive buying in Rugby, up 1.5p at 134.25p by broker Cazenove on behalf of bidder RMC, down 14p at 839p RMC now holds over 37 per cent of Rugby. A push from Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, which has a 1,000p price target, also helped.The strength in C&W, BT and other telecom stocks triggered a rip-roaring rally in the FTSE 100. Talk of a foreign bid from the likes of France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, US giant MCI WorldCom was behind the rally. The foreigners could also wade in, with firms such as Sweden's Securitas and Pinkertons of the US likely to be interested.As for Cable & Wireless, the phone group stood out in the market's telecom bonanza with a 115p rise to 780.5p. Services group Hays, up 9p to 806p is less likely as it has divested of most of its security operations.

The company has been dogged by a sales slowdown and there are rumours of additional problems in its European operations.Other mooted UK bidders included fire and security struggler Williams, down 4.75p to 324p. The name of business services giant Rentokil Initial, 10.25p lower to 207.25p, was inevitably mentioned. The cleaning group's boss Sir Clive Thomson has just returned from a US roadshow and an earnings-boosting deal would be just the thing that Rentokil needs. After selling its 40 per cent stake in mobile operator Cellnet to BT, 107p higher to 1254p after excellent results, Securicor is seen as a sitting duck. For a start, the new slimline Securicor is a much smaller group than it was in its Cellnet days. The disposal of the holding in the phone company has triggered a 492p- per-share cash back to shareholders.