London’s blue chips made a quiet start to the week as gains following the sixth rate cut in China last week were clipped back.
FTSE 100 was 21 points lower at 6,421 despite some rises in Asia overnight and a smattering of merger and acquisitions stories.
The mood was also subdued ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting later this week.
Fund manager Aberdeen Asset (LON:ADN) topped the leaders despite a firm denial it has put itself up for sale.
Through advisers, Martin Gilbert, Aberdeen’s boss, said he had never made a formal or informal approach to anyone about buying the business.
Shares rose 4% to 365p nonetheless.
Telecom group TalkTalk’s (LON:TALK) woes continue in the wake of the major hacking breach revealed last week.
Analysts have been totting up how much it cast the firm both to repair and upgrade its cyber security and also to compensate those whose details have been accessed.
Dido Harding, chief executive, said the costs will be less than those reported but the figure mentioned today was £1,000 in compensation for those customers who have been hacked. Shares fell 6% to 241p.
Elsewhere, Majestic Wine (LON:MJW) was little changed as it dropped its six-bottle minimum purchase requirement.
The company said that a trial in selected stores since the spring had proved popular. Shares eased 1% to 350.5p.
Oil tiddler Europa Oil & Gas (LON:EOG) leapt 11% higher to 9.7p as it revealed an independent report had valued Frontier Exploration Licence 3/13, offshore Ireland at up to US$7bn.
Meanwhile, Sovereign Mines of Africa (LON:SMA) climbed 5.8% to 0.9p despite the exclusivity period with a potential partner has now lapsed, but said it remains in talks over a deal.
Elsewhere, Rightster (LON:RSTR) is to bring in a new management team to reboot the fortunes of the YouTube video marketing specialist. Shares gained 6.2% to 9.5p.
Conversely, Rambler Metals & Mining (LON:RMM), lost 13.7% to 4p as it said it swung to a loss for the 2015 year amid a backdrop of tough commodity markets.