Yesterday's trading: Big Mick goes on the offensive
Known as Big Mick to his friends, Xstrata's boss Mick Davis is ready to punch his weight and go on the offensive.
Geoff Foster, Daily Mail
Since Brazilian iron ore producer Vale walked away from takeover talks with his beloved mining giant, he has been busy planning his next move.
Word is he could be lining up a £1bn-plus offer for Canada's Eastern Platinum (1p better at 146½p).
Under Davis' direction, Xstrata has grown from a small producer of vanadium, a steel additive, to the world's largest miner of thermal coal.
Davis personally would have made a small fortune if Xstrata had climbed into bed with Vale.
Indeed, the deal, which would have been valued at around £45bn, would have been one of the biggest in corporate history.
Analysts now reckon Davis has no other option but to go on the acquisition trail and Eastern looks like the perfect target.
It was created in 2005 by the amalgamation of two Canadian listed companies and has three platinum group metal projects in South Africa.
Xstrata, which touched a high of 4137p during the Vale discussions, closed 32p off at 3940p.
Some other miners succumbed to profit taking with BHP Billiton 46p off at 1758p on fading hopes of Chinese stakebuilding.
Takeover target Rio Tinto fell 93p to 5907p buy Eurasian Natural Resources resisted the malaise at 1180p, up 74p, as did associate Kazakhmys, 43p higher at 1726p.
Ignoring RWE's £11bn tilt for British Energy (up 38p at 739½p), rumours of further credit crunch write-downs at Merrill Lynch and confirmation from Lehman Bros that it has had to liquidate three investment funds because of 'market disruptions' put the wind up the Footsie.
It fell away to trade 102 points lower by mid-afternoon after the Bank of England shaved UK interest rates by a disappointing ¼% to 5%. But it later rallied to close only 18.8 points lower at 5965.1 after Wall Street climbed 122 points in early trading.
Traders in New York were lifted by a first-quarter earnings upgrade from Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, and strength in Intel following a broker recommendation.
Rumours of a pending upbeat circular lifted Capita 17p to 679½p. Fears that the mortgage market will remain in a mess despite cheaper money left Alliance & Leicester 30½p lower at 495½p and Bradford & Bingley 9½p easier at 176p.
Heavy buying in response to the 260p-ashare indicative cash offer from Manitowoc of the US turned up the temperature at pots, pans and ovens group Enodis, 78½p higher at 230p.
The news excited other takeover favourites in the sector with Bodycote International closing 7¾p better at 203¾p and IMI 16p dearer at 468¾p.
Econergy International rose 5½p to 29p after the Tchenguiz Family Trust, which owns 18.3% of the equity, announced that in light of the decline in the share price, the trustees of the TFT are reviewing their options which could include a potential offer for the company.
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Broker Dawnay Day upgraded to buy from hold and raised its target price to 54p.
News of an all-share offer worth 48.9p a share from Germany's Paion helped CeNes Pharmaceuticals advance to 41½p before closing 1p better at 38p. The stock retreated amid analyst scepticism that shareholders will accept the offer.
CeNes also said that it is still searching for a partner for its lead product, morphine alternative M6G.
Oxford Instruments gained 9p to 202p following its small acquisition of a world leader in the technology and processes used to manufacture environmentally-friendly 'HB LED' lighting.
With many homeowners now unable to move house and forced to redecorate, interior furnishing group Walker Greenbank, whose brands include Sanderson, Morris & Co and Harlequin is thriving.
Upmarket wallpaper is back in fashion and full-year results from the company prove it. Pretax profits soared 119% to £3.1m and the shares firmed 1½p to 42½p.
A successful roadshow hosted by executive chairman Tim Wilkes attracted small buyers to Firestone Diamonds, 9p up at 150p.
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