BP Share News (BP.)

Footsie threatened to move back into positive territory over the lunch time session but just fell short. Oil stocks remains a major drag on the index with BP, Cairn Energy and Royal Dutch Shell all heading south. The morning's biggest faller, satellite operator Inmarsat , is now showing a small profit on the day. Sellers were out in force in the morning session after it emerged that major shareholder Harbinger is reviewing its options regarding the 28% stake it holds in the company.Plumbers' merchant Wolseley is the best performing blue-chip after Credit Suisse started coverage with an "outperform" rating and 1855p price target. On a day when many companies appear to have been playing musical chairs in the board room the appointment that seems to have had the most effect is that of Andrew Bonfield as the new finance director of energy pipeline grid operator National Grid. The former Cadbury chief financial officer is taking over from Steve Lucas, who will retire from the National Grid board at the end of this year. Among second liners investors are tucking into Hovis bread and Branston Pickle owner Premier Foods after it confirmed reports in the weekend papers that offers have been made for its meat free business that includes Quorn.Another stock in the news over the week-end was Wellstream, the oil services firm. US industrial holding company General Electric is reportedly the company that fired the starting pistol on the race to buy the Newcastle-based company, and is still the leading contender, despite other bidders expressing an interest.Yell has also given investors something to shout about. The struggling Yellow Pages publisher is higher after saying it has brought in Tony Bates, former chief operating officer at telecoms operator Colt Group, to run its finance function. Bates, who becomes finance boss when Yell reports second quarter results on 9 November, replaces John Davis who announced his departure along with chief executive John Condron in May.Among smaller companies, shares in financial services software group Focus Solutions soared after it said it had won a £10m contract with an unnamed 'major global bank.'East Midlands bus route operator Trentbarton has named bus and coach builder Optare as its preferred supplier for the next three years in a deal worth £8.1m.African Diamonds is backing an all-share bid from Canada's Lucara that values the AIM listed miner at C$82m (£51m), or 51p a share.Copper miner Weatherly International posted an annual pre-tax profit compared to a loss the year before as it warned of a busy and challenging time ahead.Leyshon Resources' announcement that it is made applications for five coal exploration licenses in southwest Mongolia has fuelled a sharp rise in the mining group's share price.A profit warning has also dented the share price of niche travel group Western & Oriental, which was hit by the impact of the volcanic ash cloud that spread from Iceland across Europe. Western, whose brands include W&O Travel and Iceland2go, said it had to pay for the repatriation of stranded holidaymakers and was hit by booking cancelations.Gas storage group Infrastrata says it can get a project in Dorset moving forward after completing legal agreements with its partner eCORP.