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Shares were on the slide again today despite several billion pounds' worth of takeovers being dangled in front of City speculators in order to whet their appetites.
Friends Provident firmed 2.2p to 62.6p after rejecting an approach from Resolution, the takeover vehicle of entrepreneur Clive Cowdery.
Shares in Venture Production were marked 42p higher to 826½p at the outset of trading after the explorer rejected the terms of a hostile £1.3 billion takeover by Centrica.
The British gas operator already holds 29% of Venture and now plans to make an offer worth 845p for the rest of the shares to boost its gas reserves. But the Venture board is reckoned to be holding out for at least 900p a share with brokers like Evo Securities claiming Centrica may have to offer up to 950p a share to get the backing of the Venture board.
Oil and gas explorer Emerald Energy also leapt 36½p to 595p after receiving a takeover approach from an unnamed party. The company says the talks are at a preliminary stage. Emerald shares have more than doubled in value during the past nine months.
Shares generally made heavy weather of things at the start of the working week. A new sell-off among miners left the FTSE 100 index nursing a loss of 9.69 at 4117.48. Rio Tinto, which has seen a number of its staff arrested in China on spying charges, fell 49p to 1852½p. There were also losses for Lonmin, down 24p at 975p, and Xstrata, 21.8p at 575.2p.
Vodafone remains one of the heaviest-weighted stocks in the Footsie 100 index, but not everyone is a fan of the world's biggest mobile phone operator. Société Gé*érale has repeated its sell rating on the shares and trimmed its target price from 110p to 100p. The shares were changing hands at 144¼p, but today they were a touch softer at 116.8p.
Stockbroker Keefe Bruyette Woods has been taking a look at the insurance brokers and adjusted some of its target prices. It has raised Hiscox, ¼p easier at 282p, from 335p to 345p and Amlin, 7¼p down at 294½p, from 340p to 355p, but it has cut Catlin, down 5½p at 288p, from 460p to 420p and dropped its rating for the shares from outperform to market perform. It has also dropped Brit Insurance, 4½p lighter at 174¾p, from 240p to 220p with an underperform rating. Beazley, unmoved on 100½p, has been lowered from 180p to 165p. Hiscox is dropped from market perform to underperform.
Investors were sent reeling by heavy losses in Asia. Tokyo shares slumped to their lowest in eight weeks, undermined by growing political uncertainty after news that embattled Prime Minister Taro Aso is set to call a general election for 30 August.
Dealers said there was a prospect Aso's long-ruling conservative party is heading for a big defeat, while a fall in other Asian markets and US stock futures helped the Nikkei soften further.
"The news may have prompted some investors to hold back buying on dips as they expect instability either way. It's hard to imagine a new stable administration that could spark hopes and push up the market," said Mitsushige Akino at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.
The Nikkei ended down 3.78 at 9287.28, its lowest since 18 May.
But Kirin jumped almost 8% and other brewers rose after Suntory said it was considering a merger with Kirin, which would create one of the world's largest food and beverage firms. Caution ahead of corporate earnings releases and the yen's resilience against the dollar hurt some exporters. Sony shed 3.1% to 2160 yen and electronics parts maker Kyocera lost 2.8% to 6600 yen. Investors warily eyed the yen, which rose to a five-month high against the dollar below 91.80 yen on Friday. It retreated to near 93 yen first thing before drifting back to 92.50.
Shares also tumbled in Hong Kong on talk of a likely tightening of China's loose monetary policies while stocks in Shanghai drifted lower on news of an impending massive new listing.
China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines exceeded their 5% daily limits in Shanghai after China Eastern said it would acquire its smaller rival in a share swap worth £800 million, which would give the newly capitalised airline more than a 50% market share in China's financial hub.
China Eastern Airlines' stock, which resumed trade after being suspended since last month, was 12.6% higher at HK$1.96. The Hang Seng index was down 438.89 points at 17,269.53.
