Shares edged slightly higher in mid-afternoon trading as strong gains in heavyweight Vodafone and PartyGaming offset a sell-off in miners and a downbeat start to Easter on Wall Street.


The FTSE100 was 9.7 points up at 6,010.5 with the FTSE250 35.1 points higher at 9,734.6 and the AIM100 42.4 points better at 6,177.2.

Volume was thin ahead of the Easter break, with just 1.3 billion shares changing hands in 164,302 deals.


Today’s look at individual Stocks:


PartyGaming climbed 4.75p at 149.75p, lifted by broker optimism ahead of the online gaming giant's first quarter key performance indicators due next Tuesday. The broker, DKW reiterated its buy advice and 190p target, saying it expects 46% year-on-year revenue growth to $324.8m, driven by strong poker and blackjack growth.


A Broker comment also provided a spurt for ICI, up 5.75p at 359.75p, after Cazenove upgraded the chemicals group to outperform. Cazenove argued first quarter trading, may have been stronger than originally thought while there is scope for possible margin upside, at least by 2007. The broker also highlighted the high level of M&A activity within the industry, saying ICI management has

sufficient ambition, and renewed confidence now, to upgrade the portfolio by creative deals

Vodafone was up 2p at 127, carrying on from yesterday's gains following talk that Verizon Communications could soon offer up to $50 billion for its stake in Verizon Wireless


Investors applauded moves by Rolls-Royce to shore up its £1.2 billion pension deficit. The aero-engine maker has proposed to inject £500 million into the scheme in exchange for members agreeing to close off its remaining two final salary schemes to new entrants. In response to this, Merrill Lynch reiterated its buy advice and said from the fundamental perspective, there is little change - as the pension under funding will go down by £500 million and the debt will increase correspondingly.


On the downside, heavyweight miners were the biggest looser, as investors cashed in following the recent strong run on the back of the commodity price boom.
Anglo-American was the biggest faller, down 50p at 2,343p, BHP was down 23p at 1,111p, Rio Tinto lost 46p at 3,046p, and Xstrata was down 14p at 1,942p.


Oil and gas stocks also weighed heavy on investors minds, following a fall in crude prices after a report was released showing that supplies rose to their highest level in nearly 8 years.


BP was down 4p at 687p, BG lost 4p at 738p and Royal Dutch Shell lost 7p at 1,963p.


Among the portfolio stocks CSR topped the risers after UBS upped its target price to 1,450p from 1,250p and maintained its 'buy' rating ahead of first quarter results due next month. The shares gained a huge 70p at 12.70p.


There will be no updates on the Footsieblog this Friday or Monday as the London markets are closed for an extended Easter weekend.



A very Happy Easter to you all!