Shares remained weaker at midday in a quiet last session of the quarter, with profit taking in the minning sector and the collapse of ITV's bid talks pulling the FTSE back below 6,000.


At noon, the FTSE100 was 29.6 points lower at 5,985.6 with the FTSE250 off 15.7 points at 9,839.4 and the AIM100 1.5 points weaker at 6,078.6.


IPE Brent for May delivery gained 23 cents to $66.69 a barrel in early morning London trade. May West Texas Intermediate slipped 35 cents to $66.80 a barrel in electronic trade, having reached a near two-month high of $67.15 in the previous session.


Mining stocks were hit by profit taking after the sector notched up record gains yesterday, although further overnight strength across precious metal prices and a bullish report by Morgan Stanley limited the sector's losses.


Among the fallers, Rio Tinto lost 53p at 2,927p, BHP Billiton dropped 15.5p to 1,056p, Anglo American was 31p lower at 2,215p and Antofagasta dropped 25p to 2,135p.

However, copper group Kazakhmys bucked the trend, adding another 16p at 1,058p, still buoyed by yesterday's strong results.


ITV shares topped the blue chip fallers with a drop of 6p to 119p, as bid talks for the broadcaster collapsed.
Following ITV's rejection of a revised offer for the company from a vehicle led by Goldman Sachs, the consortium announced that it will not proceed with any further offers for the group.

The final offer was valued at 86p per share in cash plus one share in the acquiring company. Alternatively, ITV shareholders could also opt to receive a cash offer of 130p per share under the revised offer. This was obviously not good enough and no further talks are planned.


Bid talk has ended at Kingston Communications the company said today

discussions related to an unsolicited potential offer for the company have ended because the parties failed to agree on price and structure

The company made the statement as it gave an upbeat assessment of expectations for the second half which it said will see stronger sales and earnings than the first half. The company also said in a pre-close statement.

Trading has been particularly strong throughout the year. Our broadband service continues to grow with the customer base likely to exceed 119,000 at the full year, some 61% higher than last year

Vodafone shares were also under pressure, losing 2.5p at 120p, as Lehman Brothers cut its price target and forecasts on the mobile phone giant due to EU proposals to cut roaming rates.


The M&A rumour mill was in action again, providing support for Unilever shares, 5.5p higher at 590.5p, on market talk that Goldman Sachs is putting together a consortium bid for the group.


Yet another bad day for Tate & Lyle it lost 9.5p at 569.5p after Deutsche Bank cut its price target on the food manufacturer after a mixed trading update earlier in the week. The broker lowered its target to 550p from 600p as it reiterated its hold advice.


One from the portfolio, Carphone Warehouse (CPW) was also a strong performer, up 5p at 316.5p, after Merrill Lynch raised its target price to 375p while maintaining its buy rating. I am holding for a target price of 400p
The star performer of the portfolio has to be CSR (CSR) up a massive 6.9%, 78p a share to reach 1220p. The target for CSR remains strong at 1400p.

Vislink (VLK) shares remaned unchanged at 58.25.

The risky share, Victoria Oil and Gas (VOG) slipped slightly 0.2% to 225p.