SHARES STRONGLY UP/DOWN this week 26/12/05 (Master RSI)

London shares flat in quiet trade, Cadbury Schweppes up after divestment news

LONDON (AFX) - London shares were hovering around the 5,600 level midmorning
in very quiet post-Christmas trade as a further divestment at Cadbury Schweppes
and optimism on the high street offset weakness in oil stocks on the back of
easing crude prices, dealers said.
By 10.05 am, the FTSE 100 was 2.0 points lower at 5,597.4, with the broader
indices mixed.
Volume remained thin following the Christmas break, with a mere 175.3 mln
shares changing hands in 40,659 deals.
Cadbury rose 5 pence to 548 after it announced the sale of another non-core
business, this time Holland House brand of cooking wines, to Mizkan Americas for
37 mln usd.
In other news the UK's beleaguered retail sector received some timely
seasonal cheer after John Lewis yesterday reported an 11.7 pct year-on-year rise
in same store sales in the 31-day period up to Christmas, according to reports.
Next and Marks & Spencer both rose on the news with the former, whose sale
starts this morning, up 13 at 1,557, while M&S gained 5 to 503-1/2.
The retail sector was also helped by news that the closely watched Retail
FootFall Index yesterday showed that shopping numbers rose 17 pct year-on-year
on Boxing Day.
Elsewhere, AstraZeneca gained 29 at 2,824 on news of an exclusive global
licensing and research collaboration agreement with Targacept for the
development and commercialisation of Targacept's phase II compound, TC-1734.
The drug is used to treat Alzheimer's disease, cognitive deficits in
schizophrenia and other cognitive disorders.
On the downside, oil stocks were weaker as the price of crude futures eased
off following forecasts for warmer weather in the US.
BP dropped 9 to 612-1/2, with Royal Dutch 'B' shares 19 lower at 1,839.
ITV fell by a penny to 110-1/2 on reports of declining viewing figures.
BT, down 2-1/2 at 222-1/4, and Enterprise Inns, 10-1/2 lower at 934-1/2,
both fell victim to ex-dividend factors.
Among the mid-caps, retailers made up a good proportion of risers midmorning
following the Christmas spending bonanza, with Carphone Warehouse up 7 at
278-1/2, while Burberry Group rose 5-1/2 to 416.
Elsewhere, Rank, up 1-3/4 at 313-1/2, gave back some of its earlier gains
after news it had agreed to sell Deluxe Film, its film processing and creative
services business, to DX III Holdings, a unit of MacAndrews & Forbes, for around
430 mln stg.
Expro International, 15 lower at 575, Wolverhampton & Dudley, down 25 at
1,260, and Punch Taverns, 12 lower at 844, all went ex-dividend.
NXT was among the leading small cap risers, gaining 6-1/2 at 56. The flat
panel speaker technology group said the new FJ Cruiser Sports Utility Vehicle
from Toyota Motor Corp will be fitted with NXT-equipped roof liner sound system
when it goes on sale in North America from March 2006.
Aston Villa was 21-1/2 higher at 476-1/2 on hopes a takeover by Michael
Neville's consortium is imminent.
Energy Technique fell 0.25 to 0.87 after saying that since the end of the
group's first half on Sept 30 2005, sales have been significantly below budget,
substantially due to the poor performance of Diffusion DX, where revenue has
been around 40 pct of budget for the three months ending Dec 31 2005.
CamAxys Group was 1-1/4 lower at 6-3/4 after returning from suspension,
despite the company saying it has secured adequate funding to enable it to
pursue its investing strategy to find an appropriate reverse acquisition.