London midday: Man Group provides a lift as stocks claw back

- Footsie corrects after sell-off- Man Group jumps as UBS speculates over M&A - Shell makes 220p-a-share offer for Cove UK stocks were making moderate gains by Tuesday lunchtime, rebounding after heavy losses the day before. US stock futures were pointing to a positive start on Wall Street ahead of consumer confidence and home sales data."The markets are beginning to correct themselves this morning following a big sell-off of risky assets yesterday following a French election that could add a new twist to the Eurozone saga, the resignation request from the Dutch government after failing to agree on budget cuts and poor Eurozone data," said analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari.In domestic news, UK government borrowing was £18.2bn in March, higher than the £16bn that had been expected. It was the second month in a row that borrowing exceeded the previous year's total. The Office for National Statistics said this left the government with a budget deficit of £11.1bn in March. Net debt, excluding the temporary effects of financial interventions, reached £1.02tn, equivalent to 66% of GDP, the highest percentage on record. This compared with £905.3bn - 60.5% of GDP - at the end of March 2011. FTSE 100: Man Group rising strongly, Capita dropsHedge fund manager Man Group was leading the rise in London ahead of its quarterly AUM update next week. UBS reiterated its buy recommendation on the stock this morning, saying that the firm is a "likely take-out candidate" and is on its 'M&A Watch List'. "With Man Group shares having traded below 150p for a six-month period, we believe that a 50%+ premium bid offer to the current share price would be sufficient to obtain shareholder approval," the Swiss broker said. Banking groups Barclays and Lloyds were making gains, while airlines group IAG was also flying high after an upgrade by Credit Suisse from neutral to outperform.The first quarter of 2012 has been along much the same lines as 2011 at publishing group Reed Elsevier, prompting the group to reaffirm full-year expectations of underlying revenue and profit growth. Shares were around 3% higher.Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell was making gains after making a 220p-a-share recommended cash offer for Cove Energy, up from the proposed offer of 195p per share back in February. Business process outsourcing and professional services group Capita was a heavy faller after proposing to place 40m new ordinary shares (equal to 6.5% of its existing issued share capital) to raise additional capital to make further bolt-on acquisitions and pay down debt. Smartphone chip designer ARM Holdings fell despite seeing profits jump again in the first quarter as digital technology continues to spread. The firm reported adjusted pre-tax profits of £61.9m in the first three months of 2012, up 22% on the year before. Sector peers British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco were out of favour after being downgraded by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.FTSE 250: Redrow up, Carpetright down House builder Redrow rose after announcing a placing and open offer to raise nearly £80m. It also said sales activity this year has been encouraging with its sales per site are the top end of the range for the sector, while like-for-like (LFL) reservations are ahead of last year. ??Carpetright was falling after saying that group sales in the 11 weeks to April 14th were down 4.2% year-on-year and full-year underlying pre-tax profit would be well under market expectations.Transport group Stagecoach was a high riser after UBS upgraded the stock from neutral to buy, saying that after its 20% underperformance in the year-to-date (relative to the FTSE 250), it is now at a "good price".FTSE 100 - RisersMan Group (EMG) 96.45p +4.21%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 168.90p +3.87%Evraz (EVR) 373.90p +2.75%Reed Elsevier (REL) 529.00p +2.62%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,244.00p +2.39%IMI (IMI) 981.50p +2.08%Aviva (AV.) 305.20p +2.04%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 29.96p +1.96%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,451.00p +1.75%Prudential (PRU) 737.50p +1.65%FTSE 100 - FallersCapita (CPI) 685.00p -6.04%ARM Holdings (ARM) 552.00p -2.56%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,169.50p -1.37%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,490.00p -1.11%Schroders (SDR) 1,383.00p -1.07%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 22.92p -0.91%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,131.00p -0.79%Next (NXT) 2,976.00p -0.77%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,044.00p -0.76%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 353.90p -0.73%FTSE 250 - RisersRedrow (RDW) 124.90p +6.75%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 54.05p +6.19%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 66.60p +4.88%Bodycote (BOY) 419.30p +4.64%Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 1,270.00p +4.35%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 129.80p +4.09%Supergroup (SGP) 347.10p +3.61%Exillon Energy (EXI) 142.30p +3.57%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 54.65p +3.50%Stagecoach Group (SGC) 255.70p +3.27%FTSE 250 - FallersRuspetro (RPO) 182.40p -5.74%Carpetright (CPR) 582.00p -4.12%Essar Energy (ESSR) 126.00p -1.87%BBA Aviation (BBA) 194.70p -1.62%Berendsen (BRSN) 517.00p -1.52%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 136.10p -1.52%Victrex (VCT) 1,439.00p -1.51%SVG Capital (SVI) 280.90p -1.16%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 77.25p -1.09%Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 229.50p -1.08%BC