Trading statements from the festive season and brokers notes dominated the market today.
Miners and oil companies were unwanted once more, with weakness in the metals and crude prices hitting sentiment. But there was also a smattering of bid speculation - from ICI to Pearson - to keep traders on their toes.
DSG International - the retailer formerly known as Dixons - was the biggest faller in the 100 index, down 23.25p to 171p after a trading update revealed disappointing Christmas sales and also raised concerns about its Italian business.
The poor DSG numbers helped send the FTSE 100 down 11.2 points to 6204.5, not helped by an opening dip on Wall Street.
Rival Kesa Electricals, the Comet group, was caught in the slipstream, down 9.75p to 343p.
Home Retail Group - owner of Argos and Homebase - also reported poor December sales but said despite this, profits would be at the top end of expectations. That was enough to keep the shares in the black, up 1.75p to 410p.
Woolworths was steady at 33.5p despite a 4.6% fall in like-for-like sales over the festive period. The company had already prepared the market for the worst with a profit warning on December 5. It also announced a small acquisition in the shape of the £29m purchase of books wholesaler Bertram.
Panmure Gordon advised clients to hold the shares, with the prospect of stakeholder Baugur making some kind of move. Seymour Pierce was less kind, slapping a sell recommendation on the shares and calling the basic Woolworths' business "one of the living dead".
In demand was brewing giant SABMiller, up 55p to £12.26 after a higher-than-expected 10% rise in third quarter beer volumes.
Nightclub group Luminar climbed 14.5p to 771.5p on the back of news that sales rose 3.1% over Christmas, while pharmaceutical giant Shire added 4p to £10.88 as it won US approval for its ulcerative colitis drug Lialda.
Storage firm Big Yellow slipped 1p to 609p after giving a cautious outlook and reporting that occupancy levels in December had fallen more than they usually did for the time of year. Even news that it was converting to a tax-efficient real estate investment trust failed to lift the shares.
On the takeover front, ICI added 0.75p to 479p on continuing suggestions that rival Akzo Nobel might make a bid. News on the disposal of Akzo's healthcare business is expected early next week, and this sale could provide funds for a bid for ICI.
Also in the realm of bid speculation, catering group Compass rose 5.5p to 310.75p on talk that private equity may be interested in the company.
Publishing group Pearson, where Marjorie Scardino is tipped by spread betting firm Cantor to be the first chief executive this year to lose their job, added 24.5p to 824.5p on vague talk of a leveraged buyout. There were also suggestions US private equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts was buying shares in the business.
But Scottish & Southern Energy fell 34p to £15.26p as yesterday's hopes of a £17.50 bid faded.
Now to the brokers' notes.
British Gas owner Centrica - often tipped as a takeover target - jumped 6.5p to 361.75p after Merrill Lynch upgraded from neutral to buy and set a 390p target. "While long term strategic challenges remain, especially in upstream gas, the collapse in wholesale gas prices should feed through to significantly improved margins, and should allow management to regain the initiative in the battle for customers," said Merrill.
"In 2006 Centrica was the subject and much ill-founded bid speculation, and we expect this to persist in 2007."
Engineering group GKN was 12.5p better at 314.75p. Credit Suisse upgraded from underperform to outperform and raised its target price from 275p to 330p, pointing out the shares had done badly compared with the market and its automotive peers.
Colt Telecom was lifted by an Investec note upgrading from sell to hold, its shares adding 12p to 162p.
But UBS did some damage to Lloyds TSB. The bank lost 6p to 584p as the Swiss bank's research arm downgraded to reduce from neutral, saying the shares were running ahead of themselves. "With the group likely to adopt a more expansive stategy in 2007, including the possibility of acquisitions, we see relatively little upside," said UBS.
UBS also hit office rental group Regus. Its shares lost 3.75p to 122.25p as UBS decided a 36% rise since August was probably enough.
Among the miners Lonmin continued its decline after yesterday's news it faced a $6.5m (£3.3m) bill and some sales disruption to repair a damaged furnace. Its shares lost another 60p to £27.97.
Anglo American was also lower, down 51p to £23.34. A spokesman told Reuters the mining group is considering a sale of its 41.8% stake in AngloGold Ashanti to another company as well as looking at placing the shares on the market.
But Rio Tinto edged up 1p to £25.51, despite reporting a 2% fall in iron ore production in the fourth quarter due to maintenance work.
BP lost another 4.5p to 536.5p while Royal Dutch Shell was 5p lower at £17.16.
Lower down the market Plant Health Care climbed 54.5p to 224p. The agricultural technology group has signed a licensing agreement with German drugs group Bayer to develop its key Myconate product, with an upfront payment and royalties. Myconate, a treatment for improving crop growth, could be available to growers by 2009, said the company.
There are no financial details but house broker Evolution is predicting a royalty of $1.25 a hectare. Others say this could amount to $75m (£38m) a year when the full royalties kick in, on top of an upfront payment of more than $5m (£2.5m).
Evolution called the deal "transformational" and raised its price target from 250p a share to 305p.
Broadcast equipment group Vislink lost 5.25p to 85.5p despite an upbeat trading statement, while a profit warning late yesterday from IT services group System C saw its shares fall 2.75p to 20.75p.
Troubled biodiesel company Biofuels Corporation lost 1.5p to 27p on news that finance director Bob Green was stepping down, to be replaced by restructuring expert Andy Leeser.
Finally marketing services group NWD, whose shares were suspended at 0.4p last week after a series of profit warnings, has gone into administration.