On a generally positive day for leading shares, investors in B&Q business Kingfisher were feeling fairly disgruntled.
The retail company's shares dropped 5.5p to 266.25p - a 3% fall - after both Merrill Lynch and UBS downgraded their recommendations from buy to neutral.
"The medium-term earnings outlook may be capped by the cost of reformatting B&Q stores," said the Merrill analysts, while UBS was reacting to the fact Kingfisher shares had almost reached its 280p price target.
"With UK interest rates rising - which will impact on funding costs and possibly on demand - we prefer to downgrade the rating rather than the price target at this stage," said UBS.
Overall though the market mood was pretty buoyant, and managed to shake off worries about the reported tsunami heading for Japan and Russia. It also benefited from a positive opening on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up another 12 points or so by the time London closed. The FTSE 100 ended the day 43.2 points higher at 6229.8, while the FTSE 250 was 79 points better at 10797.2.
British Airways was the biggest riser in the leading index, up 21.75p to 485p after it announced an agreement about funding its £2.1bn pension deficit.
Vodafone rose 3.5p to 139p in the wake of yesterday's figures as a couple more brokers upgraded the mobile phone group's prospects. UBS increased its price target from 138p to 140p, while Deutsche Bank moved from hold to buy, saying it expected further consolidation in the European market.
But insurer Legal & General slipped 2.5p to 146.5p as it confirmed reports here it had £1bn of excess capital which it could return to shareholders. However investors had been hoping for more concrete news on the exact amount and the timing.
Among the main talking points was the London Stock Exchange, which slumped 74p to 1234p after news that a group of major international banks planned to set up a rival trading platform. Also hitting sentiment was Deutsche Börse's withdrawal of its bid for Euronext.
But traders said the fall in the LSE price could allow Nasdaq to relaunch its takeover, given that it has to offer at least the 1243p level at which it built up its 25% stake in the UK company.
Inter-dealer broker ICAP, which held talks this year about a link-up with the stock exchange, lost 16.25p to 490p after Morgan Stanley cut its price target from 575p to 545p "to reflect a weaker dollar and tougher markets".
Also on the way down was Lonmin after it doubled profits thanks to soaring platinum prices, but missed the top end of expectations. The company also plans to buy South African miner AfriOre for $441m. Lonmin's shares have been pushed up recently by speculation it could itself be a takeover target, but after the figures they fell back 125p to 2956p.
Analysts at Seymour Pierce have an underperform rating on Lonmin shares. "This has been an accident-prone company," they said, "and we are uncertain that a successful acquisition of AfriOre will do anything to mitigate this history."
Supermarket giant Sainsbury dipped 4.25p to 408.25p after first-half figures came in line with forecasts, despite a 60% jump in underlying profits, lifted by increased demand for healthy and fresh food products.
But financial group Old Mutual added 6.25p to 178.5p. Analysts at Bear Stearns raised their price target from 200p to 215p after a good set of third-quarter profit figures from South Africa's Nedbank, which is majority owned by Old Mut. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analysts were also positive, with an outperform rating and a 215p target.
And satellite operator Inmarsat rose 25p to 400p. Its main subsidiary beat forecasts with a 20% rise in third-quarter earnings. Nightclub group Luminar also benefited from decent profit figures, up 46.5p to 660.5p. The company said it was close to selling its entertainment division, which includes the Chicago Rock Cafe and Jumpin' Jaks.
Paypoint, which operates electronic bill payment terminals, reported a 31% rise in first-half profits and saw its shares climb 32p to 655p, while recruitment group Michael Page was 22.25p better at 435p as UBS upped its price target from 420p to 470p.
On the economic front the Bank of England's latest inflation report seemed to suggest interest rates may not need to rise as quickly as economists had expected.
UK unemployment figures showed that 961,300 people were claiming benefits last month, the highest figures since December 2001. September average earnings including bonuses slipped 0.3% from August levels.
Richard Snook of the Centre for Economic and Business Research said: "[The unemployment figures] will be welcomed by the Bank of England as the slackening labour market reduces inflationary pressures and adds spare capacity to the economy.
"However employees are likely to exert greater pressure for wage increases in the next bargaining round, as interest rate rises and the tuition fee hike eat into disposable incomes. The acceleration seen in monthly earnings growth in September could be an early sign of this. Today's figures are unlikely to have a substantial impact on the markets as they are in line with expectations."
GlaxoSmithKline slipped 1p to 1365p as it announced it was expanding its alliance with Danish biotechnology group NeuroSearch and could increase its 7% or so stake in the business.
But Bluetooth technology group CSR, under pressure recently after twice cutting its profit expectations, added 45p to 685p after an investor day yesterday. Deutsche Bank raised its forecasts and reiterated its buy recommendation and 1050p target.
Property group Rightmove rose 3p to 345.25p after it declared it was paying an interim dividend of 1.5p a share. It had decided to do this after pulling out of plans to get heavily involved in the forthcoming Home Information Packs when the government watered down its proposals. But it had to get shareholder approval for the cancellation of its share premium account before it could pay the dividend, and this has now been done.
Lower down the market Photo-Me International slipped 0.5p to 91p. The photo booth operator said talks about a bid for the company had now ended, but it was looking at options for the company's individual business. In any case it said it planned "a significant return of surplus capital" to shareholders.
Mining and exploration company European Goldfields added 3.5p to 197p on hopes it could be a takeover candidate. Reports suggested gold producer Barrick had made a £250m approach, although European said it had received no formal takeover offers.
Seymour Pierce said it could not see the sense in a Barrick approach but said there was still plenty of upside in the European share price.
Numis analyst John Meyer said: "While Barrick may or may not have approached European Goldfields it does not seem unreasonable that a number of mining companies might take a look at the business and express an interest as the company expands production."
Consumer electronics group Alba was 0.75p lower at 247p, off its worst levels. The company brought forward its half-year results - showing losses increased from £6.6m to £11.8m - and said it may demerge its leisure business, which includes the Breville and Dirt Devil brands. Analysts said the leisure division alone might fetch as much as the company's total market capitalisation. Alba has promised to update the market by its year end next March.
Final results from Nord Anglia Education, up 7.5p to 198.5p, gave a timely boost to the group's battle to see off the advances of 24% shareholder Brian Myerson's Principle Capital, which now has just two weeks to decide whether to press ahead with its mooted 200p-210p a share offer.
Operating profit jumped 29% to £9m, with substantial growth at both its international schools - notably in Shanghai and in its Learning Services division - winner of a major new contract from the government's Quality Improvement Agency. There are even
the first signs of recovery at its 99-strong Leapfrog nurseries business.
Geoff Allum of KBC Peel Hunt was upbeat about the prospects, especially since Nord Anglia has signed a deal to set up schools in China for local children, something that has previously been limited to the nursery level.
"They have started with one school but this could be the tip of a big iceberg," he said. "I am not updating my forecasts today but I think my £9.5m figure for the full year could be conservative."
Troubled NHS supplier iSoft edged up 2.25p to 37.75p as UBS upgraded its rating from reduce to neutral and set a 39p a share target.
But it said: "We believe the price is likely to remain volatile. Estimates are in our view highly uncertain, with some clarity likely to be provided by the interims, possibly due in December.
"Discussions are ongoing with possible acquirers and partners. With uncertainty surrounding the group's ability to secure long-term capital, we believe that risks remain high."
Speaking of iSoft, its chairman John Weston holds the same position at telecoms equipment maker Spirent, which today reported it was facing an attempted boardroom coup.
Spirent, down 0.25p at 58.5p, has rejected calls from 14% shareholder Sherborne Investors to remove four directors and replace them with Sherborne nominees. Spirent said it had offered two seats on the board to Sherborne but this had been rejected. Sherborne may now requisition an extraordinary general meeting.
Mr Weston said: "We do not believe it is in shareholders' interests to accept the proposal which would cede de facto control of the company to Sherborne without all shareholders being offered a premium for control or having the opportunity to vote on the proposed change."