One of the biggest takeover deals unveiled in London this year failed to stop the FTSE 100 Index sliding into the red today.
Shares in brewing giant SABMiller leapt 4% or 37p to 923p after it agreed a deal worth $7.8bn (£4.48bn) for Colombian rival Bavaria.
But weakening financial stocks and a disappointing close on Wall Street overnight meant the FTSE slipped 2.6 points to 5211.6 in the first hour of trading.
The sudden swing in sentiment was marked as the FTSE had opened more than 16 points higher today.
Many of the biggest names in UK banking were mired in the red with Barclays down 4.5p at 564p, Lloyds TSB off 3.75p at 485.75p and Royal Bank of Scotland fading 10p to 1731p.
Mobile phone stocks enjoyed mixed fortunes after FTSE 250 stock Virgin Mobile said its move into the fixed contract market had been successful.
Virgin recovered early losses to stand 2p higher at 248p even though it also revealed that its number of new customers had nearly halved in the first quarter.
Top-flight rival Vodafone was unable to get any momentum going, weakening 0.5p to 140.75p, although O2 fared better by gaining 0.5p to 136.75p.
Outside the top flight, shares in Matalan surged 9% or 19p to 210p as speculation resurfaced that Asda owner Wal-Mart was lining up a takeover bid.
References: EGi News 19/07/05
