London open: Slow start for blue chips

Footsie has made an unconvincing start to the day but has just about reversed the weaker trend seen at the death yesterday.Banks are going well and have recouped most of yesterday's losses. Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds are all in demand this morning. HSBC is ready to step away from its planned bid for Nedbank in South Africa, after a two-month period of exclusive talks with majority owner Old Mutual expires this weekend, the FT reported. Standard Chartered may step in.Resolution, the insurance sector consolidator run by entrepreneur Clive Cowdery, is buying Bupa Health Assurance for £102m.Information technology services firm Computacenter saw growth rates quicken in the third quarter. Like for like (LFL) growth, which excludes acquisitions and disposals, was 14%, or 17% on a constant currency basis, dragging year to date growth rates up to 8% and 11% respectively.Reckitt Benckiser has been fined £10.2m for abuse of the dominant market position of its heartburn treatment Gaviscon in 2005.Bus company Stagecoach is to re-enter the London market after acquiring the third largest bus operator in London. Stagecoach is paying £59.5m in cash for the bus business formerly owned by East London Bus Group, which is in administration. The acquisition is expected to modestly boost Stagecoach's earnings in the first year of ownership. Desire Petroleum's 14/15-1 well on the Rachel prospect in the North Falkland Basin, has reached a total depth of 2,877 metres, but initial wireline logging showed no oil or gas. Jatropha-based biodiesel products developer D1 Oils today confirmed that none of the parties it's been talking to are willing to launch a bid.Gearbox designer Hansen Transmissions International is to sell its loss making industrial gearbox division to concentrate on wind turbines.