Friday Morning Market: Benfield shares shine in lacklustre markets

(Update) Shares in Benfield surge 21p to 291p following a report in the Telegraph suggesting that Goldman Sachs has made an approach of about £700 million for the reinsurance broker.

In contrast Tate and Lyle shares slump 138p to 419.5p in response to a profits warning due to dollar weakness and higher corn costs.

Shares generally presented a lacklustre picture against a background of light profit-taking and end financial quarter book-squaring by institutional investors.

By 10am the FTSE 100 index was languishing at 6,451, down 36 points and the Mid-250 index was 28 points lower at 11,012.

In Europe the CAC-40 in France and German DAX were both was 16 points easier.

Major dollar earners were unsettled by a fresh fall in the US currency in the wake of weak housing sales. BAT at £17.36, Imperial Tobacco £22.,41, GlaxoSmithKline £13.01 and Unilever £15.61 between 11p and 31p weaker.

A cautious note on the mining sector from UBS contributed to falls of between 28p and 55p in Antofagasta at 758p, Kazakhmys £14.27 and Vedanta Resources £20.02. But Lonmin recovered much of its recent fall with a 52p rise to £34.50

Financials gave back recent gains as Northern Rock eased back 9.3p to 184p on the lack of bid developments.

The firmer crude price supported oil shares where BG Group 4p better at 848p and an oil discovery in Norway exciting Dana Petroleum at £11.54, up 61p.

Enterprise Inns shed 12p to 587p in the wake of a largely positive trading update, but Mitchells & Butlers rallied 6p to 615p on further consideration of yesterday's figures.