Redland and RMC responded favourably to the measures to enliven the German economy and Bass and Scottish & Newcastle moved ahead after analyst meetings.Insurances were excited by the Halifax decision to run its own insurance operation. Mercury Asset Management shaded a few coppers to 894p and up-for-sale Gartmore, the US group NationsBank is now the favourite to strike, stuck at 253p.The rest of the market, buoyed by hopes of lower interest rates and New York, clawed its way to yet another peak with a 24-point gain to 3,759.3. But whereas many financial shares have felt obliged to pause for breath Perpetual has continued to power ahead. They surged another 58p to a 2,133p peak with some saying it will soon relinquish its independence with, again, inevitably, cash-rich National Westminster Bank, known to want to increase its fund management side, regarded as the most likely bidder.Any deal would need the say-so of Martin Arbib, the racehorse owner who started the company in what has been described as a Henley-on-Thames garret 22 years ago.His family and charitable interests control around 65 per cent of the capital and although he has shown no inclination to sell there is clearly a sneaking suspicion he may yield to temptation.With the Arbib stake the shares are a narrow market and it does not require much interest to create sharp price movements.Other financials were less enthusiastic. Perpetual, the fund management group, is intriguing the stock market. The shares have responded to the heady take- over euphoria which has captivated the financial sector as stories of bids and deals have swirled around. With the shares unchanged at 112p they are on a forward rating of 13 A discount rating, but the shares are unlikely to excite.. This year's interims will be flat, but Panmure Gordon is forecasting pounds 44.5m for the full year.

Pre-tax profits for the year to October were 16 per cent up at Irpounds 42m on sales ahead by a third to Irpounds 1.2bn. Whatever Fyffes says, bananas are at the mercy not just of weather but political instability in producing countries, disease, and vagaries of supply and demand.Yesterday's results show that Fyffes has managed the volatility a lot better than Geest. It has a broader base of suppliers, which minimises the risk from the natural disasters that can devastate crops. Bananas also account for just 30 per cent of Fyffes' sales, even after the Geest deal But investors face uncertainties. The UK banana market - of which Fyffes now has half - is growing at 8 per cent a year. That skirmish was funded by the supermarkets, which absorbed the lower prices in their margins, but they could put pressure on the producers in any future battle.Fyffes claims there is good news ahead for bananas. It will run Geest as a separate business with its own sales force and head office.

The only potential synergies are in shipping and technical support.Fyffes could cut more costs with a full merger but that would risk irking the supermarket groups, which would have been left dealing with one main supplier.The last thing Fyffes wants is a recurrence of last year's banana price war, which saw the price fall to 19p per pound. Geest's two new ships and its Costa Rican banana plantations are likely to be sold Other than this, Fyffes is planning few changes. The real interest in Fyffes is what it will do with the banana interests of Geest, which it acquired in a pounds 147m deal last month, and whether they will reward investors.Although nothing will be decided ahead of a strategic review, expected to take another six to eight weeks, some things seem clear. Shareholders should follow the example of the founders and "tail swallow" enough rights to take up the balance.Fyffes rides the banana boatYesterday's results from Fyffes, the Dublin-based fruit supplier, were something of a sideshow.

But the recent exit from the US by rivals Vibroplant shows just what a snake-pit it can be.Based on UBS's forecast that profits will rise from pounds 18m to pounds 29m in the year to April 1997, but earnings growth will slow, the shares could mark time on a forward multiple of 12. The market share of its main A-Plant UK business has almost tripled to 11 per cent since 1991 and margins have doubled to over 20 per cent since the trough of the recession.Ashstead is probably unique amongst plant hire groups for its heavy incentivisation of staff, but it has also cut reliance on the construction industry from 100 per cent 10 years ago to 40 per cent now. The latest deal should spread the business even further.Leada, with operating margins of 16 per cent, takes Ashstead into a new business area, concrete formwork, and across the Irish Sea for the first time. Margins should be quickly boosted by putting A-Plant business through 15 of the 19 depots McLean looks more risky. The price looks reasonable, given profits of $4.8m last year, and McLean's margins of 14 per cent look capable of expansion. Its performance has certainly been impressive, during what has been the worst building recession since the war.

To finance the two deals, Ashstead is calling on shareholders for up to pounds 66.3m in a one-for-two rights issue at 152p a share.Yesterday's 2p gain in the share price to 180p, despite such a hefty cash call, gives a clue to the market's enthusiasm for Ashstead. From an investment of pounds 458,000, their combined stake is currently worth pounds 23m. They are now preparing to put their fortunes at risk by launching the next leg of the group's growth strategy.Ashstead is paying pounds 16m for Leada Acrow, a 1993 buyout from BET, and $30.3m (pounds 20.2m) for McLean, an equipment hirer based in Virginia, close to its existing Sunbelt chain of US depots. With a dividend yield of 7.5 per cent, the shares are strongly underpinned at current levels and shareholders should hold on to see how much value an effective For Sale sign can create.Ashstead ready to grow furtherSince Peter Lewis and George Burnett boarded Ashstead Group nearly 12 years ago it has become Britain's biggest non-operated plant hire group.