A higher bid for ICI, results from banking group HSBC that were not as bad as expected, and a revival among the miners - none of this helped the market hold on to its early gains today.
For the fifth trading day in a row, the FTSE 100 index ended lower, down 9.1 points at 6206.01, despite a bright start.
The concerns about a credit crunch in the wake of the US housing market problems refused to go away, meaning takeovers could dry up as potential predators struggle to raise the funds for highly endebted bids.
Trading however was thin, with many dealers away on their summer holidays. There was little guidance from Wall Street which got off to an uncertain start, down around 10 points by the time London closed.
A key event this week will be the Bank of England's latest interest rate decision on Thursday. Most economists believe the bank will take it cautiously and leave rates at 5.75% for the moment.
One bid which is still alive and kicking however is the one for paint and chemicals business ICI. Its shares climbed 41.5p to 618.5p as predator Akzo Nobel raised its bid from 600p to 650p. Some ICI shareholders however believe the company is worth closer to 700p, and the new bid has indeed been rejected. Talks however are continuing, and Akzo has now agreed a deal with Henkel whereby the German consumer products group would buy ICI's adhesives and electronics materials businesses from Akzo if the deal goes through.
James Knight, an analyst at Collins Stewart, said competing bids for ICI were unlikely and his standalone value for the company was 525p a share.
"We think either ICI's board gives in to 650p or Akzo goes hostile," he concluded.
As for HSBC, its shares added 12p to 892.5p. Half-year profits rose 13% although bad debts - especially connected to the US subprime mortgage market - were higher. But the figures were better than had been expected after the bank's recent gloomy trading update.
Still with the banking sector, Barclays fell 1p to 681p as Dutch rival ABN Amro withdrew its recommendation for the UK bank's $64bn bid. However ABN made it clear it still favoured Barclays' offer over the one from a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland, up 1.5p to 570p. The RBS-led offer is higher, but there are concerns as to whether Fortis, one of the partners, will succeed with a rights issue given the current state of the markets.
Among the miners Vedanta Resources was 83p higher at £17.01 as Merrill Lynch raised its price target on the shares to £20.
Merrill said: "Our house view on copper is cautious. However we note that copper represents just 25% of Vedanta's earnings this year, declining to 7% by 2012. Some 50% comes from zinc. We assume that Konkola, Vedanta's most important copper asset is break-even at our long term copper price. Any upside surprise operationally would mean an earnings upgrade."
Rio Tinto rose 113p to £34.51 and BHP Billiton was 42p better at £14.03.
Publisher Pearson climbed 8p to 778p after it reported a rise in first-half profits, while GlaxoSmithKline slipped 10p to £12.15 awaiting tonight's key decision from US regulators on whether its Avandia diabetes drug can stay on the market.
Prudential fell 14p to 650p on talk it had considered the $3bn acquisition of US insurer Protective Life, based in Birmingham, Alabama. Traders say the company may have to give more details alongside its results due this week. In a note Panmure Gordon said a deal between Pru and Protective would make sense "but for the issues in [Protective's] domestic market."
And Cadbury Schweppes dropped 8.5p to 595p after last week's delay to the sale of its US beverages business because of the current credit squeeze.
Among the mid-caps, Soco International jumped 129p to £18.94 after an upbeat drilling update from one of its prospects in Vietnam.
Lloyds of London insurer Beazley jumped 4.75p to 154.75p after reporting record first-half profits. But engineering group Ultra Electronics fell 34p to £10.59 despite a 7% lift in first-half profits. Oriel Securities said it continued to view Ultra as a long term core holding. "Recent market wobbles make this a good opportunity to buy," the broker said.
Banknote printer De La Rue lost 27.28p to 748.5p. The company said the police were conducting an investigation, which it believed was in response to allegations of corruption "made by a former employee against whom the company has obtained a judgement for the recovery of monies stolen from it." It said it believed the allegations were false, and it was co-operating with the investigation.
Elsewhere IT group Xansa climbed 22.25p to 126.25p after French rival Groupe Steria offered a higher than expected 130p in cash to buy the business. Bridgewell analyst Michael Donnelly said: "We consider [130p] to be a full price, and it is unlikely to be bettered by an Indian acquirer." Panmure Gordon agreed, advising investors to take the money while Altium said shareholders should "accept with some alacrity".
Indian companies were among the tipped predators when Xansa revealed it was in takeover talks last week.
But online payment group Neteller fell 11p to 68p. The company said its US customers could from today withdraw their funds - part of the terms of the company's settlement with the US authorities after the country's clampdown on online gambling.
Lower down the market MTI Wireless Edge, which makes flat panel antennas for fixed wireless broadband, added 1.5p to 46p after a 47% jump in half-year profits.
Finally Vislink confirmed reports here by announcing the £2.7m purchase of US microwave specialist Focus Communications. The shares slipped 1.75p to 79.25p. Investec said the acquisition was "small but strategically important" and said the shares were undervalued.?