ARM investors reassured over Intel The fundamental drivers of the stock "remain strong," they said, and lifted their recommendation on the group to "buy" from "hold." As a result, ARM climbed as much as 5pc before closing up 27½, or 3.6pc, at 786p, one of the day's biggest risers. Developments in Asia were once again a key factor in determining sentiment in the broader market, with reassuring comments from a People's Bank of China official appearing to assuage investor worries about a banking crisis in the world's second-largest economy. That helped the FTSE 100 advance 72.81 points, or 1.2pc, to 6,101.91, the first time London's benchmark index had closed in positive territory since last Tuesday. Still, not everyone was convinced by the move, with one trader arguing the rally was unlikely to last long and had the appearance of a dead cat bounce. Just nine shares in the FTSE 100 failed to rise. Drinks can maker Rexam, the heaviest blue-chip faller with a loss of 11.4 to 453.7p, was dragged lower by a profit warning. Petrofac, too, was on the back foot following a trading update and shed 15p to £12.19 after the oil services group said it would see "modest" net profit growth this year. Buoyed by second-quarter results that beat expectations and the appointment of a new chief executive, cruise operator Carnival put on 116p to £22.91, the single-biggest riser on the FTSE 100. A presentation to Citigroup's sales team by Aviva chief executive Mark Wilson - who took over at the start of the year - did the trick for the insurer, which advanced 9.6 to 329.6p. Citi analyst Paul Bradley repeated his "buy" advice in light of the presentation, arguing that Aviva remained one of his "top picks" because of its "strong self-help restructuring story that we believe the new management will be able to deliver." However, the reason for United Utilities rise of 10 to 665½p had rather less substance to it, with traders attributing the move to a rehash of bid speculation around the water company. The yarn doing the rounds was that the consortium that had unsuccessfully approached rival Severn Trent, flat at £16.28, was now looking at United. The company is no stranger to takeover gossip, having been a focus for speculators before the bid for Severn was revealed in mid May. Meanwhile, SABMiller added 83p to £30.94, helped by Wyn Ellis at Numis, who started coverage of the group with a "buy" recommendation" and suggested AB InBev was a potential suitor for the Peroni brewer. A deal with the Belgian giant was been speculated about in the past. On the FTSE 250 - up 186.34 points at 13,458.57 - Balfour Beatty leapt 13.7 to 234.2p, a 6.2pc jump. One analyst noted the troubled construction firm had attracted takeover speculation in the last week or so. Balfour also announced a £720m contract win in Hong Kong on Monday. Domino Printing Sciences slid 14 to 584p after disclosing it had written down the value of its investment in TEN Media by 90pc. Two years ago, the mid-cap industrial printing group injected $50m into California-based TEN, which develops technology to increase food safety in the US egg industry. Domino said it the time that the investment would help it expand its egg marking and coding business. As well as confirming there was "no certainty that TEN Media will have sufficient capital to enable it to commercialise its systems," Domino also reported first-half results that Jefferies analysts described as "slightly softer" than forecast, further weighing on the stock. Elsewhere on the second-tier index, a broker downgrade stoked concern about earnings hit Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, causing the shares to fall as much as 5.1pc before recovering to close down 1 at 540p, a 0.2pc dip. Analysts at Morgan Stanley argued that the tough trading environment in Beijing, Seoul and Singapore, as well as the impact of hotel closures for planned refurbishments, could see the company post annual pre-tax profits of around £120m, below M&C's £140m to £150m target. They cut their rating to "equal weight" from "overweight." Car dealer Inchcape, hurt by a bearish broker note on Friday and data showing a fall in Russian auto sales on Monday, managed to stage a partial recovery. The experts at Exane BNP helped, advising that the recent weakness presented a buying opportunity, and traders evidently agreed, sending Inchcape 25.9 higher to 484½p.