London-listed stocks are on the up this morning amid broader gains as investors digest corporate updates and assess the potential impact of US President Joe Biden quitting the reelection race.

Rentokil has surged 12.3 per cent to the top of the FTSE 100 after a report said that Philip Jansen, former chief of BT Group, is working on a private equity-backed takeover bid for the pest-control firm.

It has driven the broader industrial support services sector 2.6 per cent higher, which lead gains. Most sub-sectors trended higher as the market recovered from Friday's declines.

On the other side, travel and leisure stocks have slipped 1 per cent, weighed down by airlines like Wizz Air and IAG Group that are down between 3 to 5 per cent after Irish peer Ryanair missed quarterly profit estimates.

All eyes will now be on the gross domestic product and crucial inflation data out of the US, that could shed some more light on the Federal's Reserve monetary policy path.

Investors will also parse through corporate earnings in the US and the UK, with companies like Alphabet and EV maker Tesla on the radar.

Entain has climbed 4.2 per cent after the sports betting and gaming group said Gavin Isaacs has been appointed as its new CEO.

Ocado has jumped 6.3 per cent to top the FTSE 250 after the online supermarket and technology group said its US partner Kroger had placed an order for a wide range of new automated technologies.

Hammerson has advanced 6.5 per cent after the shopping centre owner said it has entered into an agreement to dispose its interest in Value Retail to Silver Bidco Limited for an enterprise value of £1.5billion.

In the hit movie The Intern, Robert De Niro plays the role of Ben Whittaker, a 70-year-old widower and retired marketing executive.

Ben decides retirement is not all it's cracked up to be so he applies to be a senior intern at About The Fit, a trendy online fashion start-up in Brooklyn, run by the workaholic CEO Jules Ostin, played by Anne Hathaway.

Rentokil shares will be in focus when the stock market opens today amid reports it has become the City's latest takeover target.

The FTSE 100 pest controller is at the centre of a £15billion swoop by the former boss of BT.

Philip Jansen, who left at the start of this year, is seeking private equity funding for a deal that would see him become executive chairman.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor:

'This week will... herald the beginning of the company reporting season in earnest, with a raft of updates expected from the likes of BT, Vodafone, Unilever, AstraZeneca and ITV.

'Of particular interest will also be half-year numbers from Lloyds Banking and NatWest, where investors will be looking to the usual metrics of Net Interest Income, Net Interest Margin, capital cushion levels and cost/income ratios for clues on the current state of trading.

'At the same time, shareholder returns will also be in focus, with further share buybacks a possibility in addition to the current generous dividend yields which the banks are delivering.

'In addition, any increase in the level of customer defaults will also receive attention, although both banks have thus far been taking an intelligent approach to risk.'

Gambling giant Entain has named Gavin Isaacs, former chief of US-based lottery games and betting firm Scientific Games Corp, as its new CEO, effective 2 September.

Entain said Isaacs has over 25 years of experience across the global sports betting, gaming and lottery industries, and has handled roles with companies including DraftKings Inc , SB Tech, Bally Technologies Inc and Aristocrat Technologies.

Issacs was a former board member at sports betting firm DraftKings, which in 2021 walked away from its $22 billion buyout bid for Entain to focus on its core U.S. market.

In the midst of a challenging past year marked by penalty settlements for alleged bribery in its former Turkish operations and the sudden departure of Nygaard-Andersen, the company has now proceeded with a new appointment.

The company announced in April that its Chair Barry Gibson could potentially leave before September, ending his over four-year tenure, if a CEO was appointed sooner, leaving interim CEO Stella David to succeed.

Entain's former CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen resigned in December 2023, following reports that certain shareholders were unhappy with her leadership.

In April, the group reported a smaller-than-expected fall in online gaming revenue for the first quarter, as an increase in active customers helped it offset stiff competition and regulatory pressures in its main markets.

Gambling firms, which gained from a rise in online betting during the pandemic, are dealing with stiffer regulations and a cost-of-living crisis.

One-off special payouts pushed dividends paid by UK-listed companies to a new record high, but the mining sector dragged down regular payments.

Headline figures show dividends rose 11.2 per cent to £36.7billion in the second quarter, according to Computershare's Dividend Monitor.

Underlying growth was significantly slower, with regular dividends growing just 1 per cent thanks to a large cut in mining payouts, but still reached a record £32.5billion over the quarter.

BT Group has been fined £17.5million by Britain’s communications watchdog after the telecoms firm suffered network disruption that affected 14,000 emergency calls in June last year.

Ofcom said: 'We found that BT did not have sufficient warning systems in place for when this kind of incident occurs, nor did it have adequate procedures for promptly assessing the severity, impact and likely cause of any such incident or for identifying mitigating actions.'