Easter egg rumours shellshock Woolies

It was responding to wicked rumours that it had run out of the seasonal treats, which caused the shares to melt another 2 1/4p to 38 1/4p. 'It's absolutely not true,' says Woolworths. 'We've got plenty of eggs in store and more in the warehouse.' Woolies will unwrap full-year results, and an update on trading, this morning.

Thorntons firmed 1 1/2p to 114p on hopes of a good weekend, though Clinton Cards eased 2p to 159p. Among the big supermarkets, Sainsbury rose 3 3/4p to 396p, and Morrison 2p to 211p. But leader Tesco slipped 1 3/4p to 242 1/4p.

Punters, meanwhile, think Christmas has come early for the gambling sector. It rang up further gains after Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell unveiled plans to deregulate the industry.

Casinos group Stanley Leisure jumped 7 1/2p to 369 1/2p, and gaming group Wembley 14p to 824p. Rank firmed 3 1/2p to 299 1/2p on hopes that it may turn its provincial bingo halls into casinos, while Ladbrokes parent Hilton rose 1 1/2p to 245p.

Even beleaguered London Clubs International rose 1/2p to 15 3/4p. The casinos group looks more foolish by the day. It racked up a crippling £220m in debts trying to break into Las Vegas. Now Vegas, as it were, is coming here. Some hope deregulation may finally entice a bidder.

Brokers noted that the reforms had been well trailed, and shares have already risen in anticipation. 'Cynics might also add that bringing in the changes is clearly going to be a protracted process,' says Richard Finch, at Williams de Broe.

Investors in Power Leisure, owner of Irish bookmaker Paddy Power, sold £19m worth of stock at 280p. It ended up another 31/3p to 296p.

Otherwise it was thin trading ahead of the long weekend. The FTSE 100 index closed down 8.1 at 5195.5. Wall Street's Dow Jones index surged 150 points within an hour, helped by a sharp rise in US consumer confidence in March.

Marconi jumped 1.1p to 7.35p from Monday's record low, as bears closed their profitable short trades in the crisis-hit group.

Northern Ireland electricity group Viridian tumbled 6p to 450p, a new four-year low, after the regulator proposed tough new price controls. As analysts tried to digest OfReg's 67-page tome, some feared that the proposals could prevent dividend growth. Viridian has two months to respond, and final proposals will be published in June.

British Energy fell 9p to 178p after Merrill Lynch cut its price target 130p to just 220p and warned that the UK generation business could lose £200m a year for two years, leaving the dividend uncovered.

Mobile operator Orange firmed 7p to 487p on hopes of a deal to settle its dispute with its German associate Mobil-Com. Orange's parent, France Telecom, is trying to arrange for a friendly banking syndicate to buy out the turbulent chief executive, leaving it in control of the troubled operation. mm02, formerly BT Cellnet, fell 3 3/4p to 66 1/2p.

Tate & Lyle has left investors with a bitter taste over the years, but sweetened 25 1/2p to 339 1/4p after saying that annual results will beat forecasts.

Scottish Power rallied from Monday's five-year low, bouncing 15p to 365p on relief after it said current trading is in line with expectations.

Soap-suds-to-ice-cream giant Unilever melted another 19p to 559p as the market digested slower sales growth than expected.

Cargo group Exel eased 5 1/2p to 847p, despite a bullish note from UBS Warburg which believes the industry is poised for recovery and set a £10 target price.

Barclays tumbled 27p to 2136p on reports that it is looking to sell its fund management arm BGI for a low $1bn (£700m).

Aim-listed internet software group Stilo rose another 2 1/2p to 9p, for a two-day gain of 5 3/4p, following Monday's annual results and strong trading update.

EUROTUNNEL, long submerged by debt, is quietly heading back towards the surface. It is buying back yet more bonds on the cheap, cutting debts £400m or 16p a share and interest bills £30m a year. Eurotunnel's debt - £8.9bn five years ago - is £6bn now and trades for less than £5bn. The shares rose another 3 3/4p to 64 1/2p.