LONDON (ShareCast) - There's a winding down mood in London with many traders already departed for the country retreat ahead ahead of the bank holiday.

Miners have been responsible for most of the trading today, with profit taking after a good run seeing prices dip across the sector.

Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, Vedanta, BHP Billiton, ENRC, Xstrata and Kazakhmys are all prominent fallers after the good run-up all have enjoyed in recent days.

Inter-dealer broker ICAP and LSE are also both lower after Credit Suisse cut its target price on the former to 610p from 670p.

Supermarket operator J Sainsbury is higher after ABN Amro upgraded its recommendation on the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ in light of the drop in the company’s share price recently.

Lloyds TSB is wanted after Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the bank to “neutral” from “underperform”, while broker comment also lifts Cable & Wireless; Investec has changed its stance on the telecoms stock from “hold” to “buy” while Merrill Lynch has reiterated its buy recommendation.

US firm Halliburton has made an indicative offer to oil services firm Expro worth 1,525p in cash, valuing Expro in total at approximately £1,705 million. The proposal does not amount to a firm intention to make an offer and is subject to certain pre-conditions, Expro added. The offer trumps an earlier offer worth 1,435p from a private equity and management group.

Pub owner and brewer Marston's has seen 15.9% decline in first-half profit to £35m, just below market forecasts. Marston's Inns & Taverns like-for-like sales up by 0.3% with continued strong like-for-like food sales. Marston's Pub Company like-for-like profit per pub was down 0.6%. Overall sales increased by 3.6% to £316.4m (2007: £305.3m).

Morgan Stanley now has an ‘underweight’ rating on Go-Ahead, having previously rated it as ‘equal-weight’, and cuts its target price on the company to 1,700p from 2,490p. It lowers its rating on National Express to ‘equal-weight’ from ‘overweight’ and reduces its target price to 1,101p from 1,350p.

High Street retailer Woolworths moved higher after it confirmed media speculation that it is considering selling its stake in DVD publisher 2entertain. "Woolworths Group plc notes the recent press speculation regarding its stake in 2entertain. The company can confirm that it is considering its options with regard to this stake which may or may not lead to a transaction," it said in a brief statement.

Management has decided not to bid for Styles & Wood after the retail property services firm warned its order book has fallen behind expectations, sending its share price crashing. It will now fail to meet forecasts for the half year ending 30 June 2008 due to order deferrals and margin pressure. Worryingly, uncertainty over the full year outcome prompted executive directors to decide against pursuing their indicative 125p a share cash offer.

Boat electronics specialist Raymarine said takeover talks have been terminated and added that first quarter underlying sales were below last year.

The group revealed in April that it had received a preliminary approach but confirmed today that it is no longer in an "offer period".

European Nickel has agreed to pay $48m for some of Investika’s strategic interests in its Philippines nickel laterite projects. The interests changing hands include a chunky stake in Toledo Mining which shot higher on the news,

Magazine publisher Future's interim profits fell to £4.1m from £6.2m on revenues of £78.3m, down from £84m. Ignoring one-offs last year, profits rose by 17%. Advertising revenue up 4% and pacing ahead for full-year with online advertising up 31%, now representing 19% of advertising revenue (up from 15%).

Screen Technology shares were restored on AIM after the large screen display maker proposed a placing, open offer and loan note to raise up to £1.3m. The shares returned around one-third lower than the price at which they were suspended.

Inkjet printer group Xaar said the recent earthquake in China will cause a temporary reduction in activity by end-users within China as a whole and a drop in sales of Xaar Platform 1 products.

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