Market report: Monday close

SHARES in big media companies came under the hammer amid mounting fears that the Government may be forced to backtrack over plans to relax rules relating to cross-holdings.

There is a growing perception in Whitehall that if the rules are relaxed, radio and TV broadcasters could come under foreign ownership, and prime airtime could be swamped with cheap US programmes.

Chrysalis led the way down with a fall of 8p to 181p, followed by SMG Group, 2 1/2p to 112 1/2p, Capital Radio, 5p to 570p, and GWR Group, 5p to 198p. Carlton Communications, which covers the London broadcasting franchise area, rallied from an early drop to trade 8 1/4p better at 180 1/2p while its ITV Digital partner Granada firmed 4 3/4p to 96 1/4p.

Carlton and Granada are being sued by the Football League for the recovery in sponsorship money of about £180m following the collapse of ITV Digital, and the case is expected to reach a conclusion this week. The rest of the market started the week on a positive note supported by a rise of more than 300 points in the Dow on Wall Street this afternoon. The FTSE 100 rose 186.1 to 4202.7. As one broker commented: 'Even the bears take holidays.'

The bears were feeling the squeeze in drugs giant AstraZeneca, up 194p at 2367p. US securities house Schroder Salomon Smith Barney has slashed its target price from 3750p to 2500p.

BOC Group shrugged off a broker's downgrading to post a rise of 24p to 880p. US securities house Goldman Sachs has downgraded shares of BOC and its French rival Air Liquide from market outperform to market perform as it urged clients to switch into companies better placed to gain from the economic recovery.

Alliance & Leicester firmed 22p to 779p after US securities house Morgan Stanley cut its target price from 865p to 792p, claiming it was not the most exciting bank in the sector. The broker has raised its earnings forecast for A&L for this year and next by 5% and 7% respectively.

Early attempts at a rally by Cookson ran out of steam, the price falling 1/4p to 19 3/4p. Earlier this month it launched a deeply discounted £270m rights issue at 25p. It was backed by the influential broker Cazenove, but was not underwritten. Putnam Investment Management has raised its stake to 3.1%.

Retailer Kingfisher continued to rally from recent lows with a rise of 13 1/4p to 183 1/4p with the nil-paid up 14p at 30p. The closing date for its £2bn rights issue is Friday. The terms are one for one at 155p, but stock market bears have been trying to drive the price lower. Speculative buying lifted estate agent Chesterton 5p to 26p. The company has been in bid talks since the end of May, and is urging shareholders to disregard any speculation they may hear with regard to the talks.

Pubs chain JD Wetherspoon rose 21 1/2p to 305p, cheered by the decision of Goldman Sachs to elevate the shares from market outperform to its recommended list.

Construction group Wiggins firmed .63p to 11.125p as a big buyer started doing the rounds. A line of 250,000 shares were snapped up at 11p, followed by a further line of 150,000.

Finance specialist Cattles hardened 6 1/2p to 277 1/2p after broker UBS Warburg upgraded the shares from hold to buy and repeated its 350p target price.

Prices and indices in this section are supplied from various sources and calculated at different times and may not always match those listed in the tables. Ofex prices relate to the previous close.

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