Bid action in pharmaceuticals pushes UK's FTSE higher

* FTSE 100 up 0.8 pct

* Pharma sector lifts broader market

* AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN - news) surges on reported Pfizer (NYSE: PFE - news) bid interest

By Sudip Kar-Gupta

LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - Merger and acquisition activity

in the pharmaceutical sector drove Britain's top equity index

higher on Tuesday, pushing it to its best level in nearly two

weeks.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up by 0.8 percent,

or 54.77 points, at 6,680.32 points in early trading.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca surged 8.1 percent, with

trading volumes in the stock well above those for the index

after the Sunday Times newspaper reported a 60 billion pound

($101 billion) approach from U.S. peer Pfizer.

Both companies declined to comment. Analysts at Citigroup (TLO: CIT-U.TI - news)

said in a research note they expected Pfizer (TLO: PF-U.TI - news) "to push

aggressively ahead with a second approach."

Rival drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (Other OTC: GLAXF - news) rose 4.4 percent

after exchanging assets with Swiss peer Novartis (Xetra: NOT.DE - news) ,

while the general mood dragged rival Shire (LSE: SHP.L - news) up 4.8

percent.

The FTSE 100 hit a peak of 6,867 points in late January,

which marked its highest level since early 2000, but has since

slipped back due to concerns over a slump in emerging markets

economies and tensions between Russia and Western powers over

Ukraine.

McLaren Securities' managing director Terry Torrison said

the activity in the pharmaceuticals sector would help the market

progress, along with solid quarterly results from major U.S.

companies.

"We've got steady earnings coming out of the U.S., and the

mergers and acquisition news doesn't do us any harm either,"

said Torrison.

($1 = 0.5951 British Pounds)

(Editing by John Stonestreet)