LONDON (ShareCast) - London’s top stocks finished in the red but narrowed earlier losses as miners surged in to the blue thanks to M&A activity.

Miner Eurasian Natural Resources was higher after it said it does not intend to make an offer for Kazakhmys at the current time.

Rio Tinto also surged late in the afternoon on rumours fellow miner BHP Billiton will lift its bid to 3.8 shares. Vedanta Resources was also a strong riser.

Stocks had been under pressure in the morning after the Office for National Statistics said the Consumer Prices Index hit 3% in April driven by high food and fuel costs. It was up from 2.5% in March and suggested the Bank of England may not cut interest rates any time soon.

Alliance & Leicester's mortgage lending fell sharply in the first four months of 2008. Mortgage balances at 30 April 2008 were £41.2bn, £1.5bn lower than at 31 December 2007, but it was impairment charges of £388m that unsettled investors with analysts again wondering whether the dividend can be sustained. HBOS, Lloyds and Barclays were also down

Travel group TUI Travel's said underlying loss fell sharply in the first half of the year to £294m, compared with a £339m loss last year. The improvement reflected strong performances in the UK and Nordics and a "significant turnaround" in France, it said.

Security group GFS's underlying performance is now running slightly ahead of overall management expectations, aided in part by a small benefit from recent euro strength. In the year to March overall organic growth improved strongly to 11% with around 9% in developed markets and around 17% in New Markets. GFS remains very confident in the performance of the group for 2008.

Pub operator Enterprise Inns served up an 11% decline in first half profit, in line with expectations, as it warned of a tough trading environment. "Consumer leisure spend is likely to remain under pressure for some time," the group said in a company statement.

On the broker front, Credit Suisse has lowered its rating on Royal and Sun Alliance to ‘underperform’ from ‘neutral’ on valuation grounds. Shares in ITV fell after Goldman Sachs changed its recommendation on the company to ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’, saying the market is being overly optimistic.

Software firm Misys was the biggest raiser amongst the midcaps as traders speculated a possible bid for the firm.

Support services group Serco says that its increased pipeline of opportunities and strong performance so far in 2008 leaves it confident of delivering double-digit revenue growth for the foreseeable future. The group reiterated it also expects to see a 30 basis point increase in adjusted PBT margin for both this year and next.

Meanwhile housebuilder Redrow warned the conditions in the housing market have worsened faster than it expected with reservations down 50% on this time last year due to a lack of mortgage availability. Galliford Try was similarly gloomy over the housing market as it lowered guidance for the year to £60m profit.

Shares in Hovis and Campbell's Soups owner Premier Foods improved as the group passed on most of the increases in foodstuff costs seen last year. Meanwhile, Northern Foods is to mothball its Fenland Foods plant in Grantham after failing to agree a new contract with Marks & Spencer for the supply of ready meals.

Builders merchant Travis Perkins reported a 6.8% rise in turnover in the first four months of 2008, but said it expects markets to weaken further as the year progresses.

High street bakery Greggs said like-for-like sales in the 19 weeks to 10 May 2008 rose by 4.7% and is confident about its prospects.

Car dealer Lookers said it has started the financial year with a much stronger business compared to last year, but remains cautious about growth in new car sales.

Stockbroker Jarvis Securities rejected an unsolicited bid approach but said it is considering its options, which could include the sale of the company.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,645.00p +3.68%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,423.00p +3.11%
Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 1,377.00p +3.07%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,540.00p +1.60%
SABMiller (SAB) 1,186.00p +1.54%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 895.50p +1.53%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,020.00p +1.35%
Tesco (TSCO) 437.00p +1.27%
Cable & Wireless (CW.) 155.50p +1.24%
Cobham (COB) 223.25p +1.02%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Alliance & Leicester (AL.) 458.75p -10.14%
G4S (GFS) 225.00p -6.25%
HBOS (HBOS) 485.00p -4.06%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 3,348.00p -3.82%
BG Group (BG.) 1,298.00p -3.71%
Compass Group (CPG) 342.25p -3.46%
ITV (ITV) 64.50p -3.44%
Next (NXT) 1,266.00p -3.28%
Persimmon (PSN) 580.50p -3.25%
John Wood Group (WG.) 445.75p -3.20%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Misys (MSY) 178.25p +6.26%
ITE Group (ITE) 164.00p +5.64%
Yell Group (YELL) 202.50p +4.11%
LogicaCMG (LOG) 125.50p +2.66%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 400.00p +2.50%
Keller Group (KLR) 695.00p +2.21%
Charter (CHTR) 950.00p +2.15%
Premier Foods (PFD) 133.00p +1.92%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 1,173.00p +1.65%
Dimension Data Holdings (DDT) 51.00p +1.49%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Collins Stewart (CLST) 104.25p -9.15%
Bradford & Bingley (BB.) 158.75p -8.24%
Redrow (RDW) 270.50p -7.60%
Greggs (GRG) 4,355.00p -7.34%
Talvivaara Mining (TALV) 417.00p -6.71%
Assura Group (AGR) 87.75p -6.65%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 257.25p -6.62%
Mapeley (MAY) 1,240.00p -5.70%
Grainger (GRI) 368.50p -5.57%
Quintain Estates & Development (QED) 423.75p -5.52%

• News Channel