Market report: Monday close

GREAT Universal Stores was one of the most heavily traded stocks in the market today with more than 60m shares changing hands as the price firmed 3p to 900p.

A line of 60m went through at 891 1/2p, followed almost instantly by a further 30m at the same price. Brokers say it is likely these were trades used to cover open positions on the futures or options market. They played down suggestions that one, or more, institutional shareholders had decided to ditch their holdings.

Share prices generally traded within a narrow range and the FTSE 100 index was down 13.4 at 4685.5.

Footsie newcomer Cairn Energy touched a new peak of 1555p in early trading before someone decided to give the shares a smack and drove them back down to 1499p, 21p lower on the day.

The price has been chased up from a low of 380p this year fuelled by record oil prices and some big gushers in India thought to contain billions of barrels.

More bad news for drugs giant AstraZeneca saw it touch a new year's low of 2148p before rallying to trade 52p higher at 2180p. At the start of September the price was trading at 2660p.

It follows rejection by the US Food & Drug Administration of the group's anticoagulant Exanta which was being heralded as the group's next blockbuster treatment.

Troubled supermarkets chain Sainsbury's responded to weekend speculation about its future with a trading update which left the shares nursing a loss of 2p at a 2004 low of 250p. It is forecasting half-year, pre-tax profits of between £125m and £135m, down on brokers' expectations. They fear the dividend will also be cut.

Chip designer Wolfson Microelectronics dived 62 3/4p to 101 3/4p, after warning that annual sales growth would come in at between 50% and 55% against 70% to 80% predicted in July. The shares are now half the price at which they floated last year.

It was the first day of trading for F&C Asset Management born after the merger of Friends Provident's subsidiary Isis Asset Management and Foreign & Colonial, creating a company with a stock market value of £1.1bn. It is now rated within the top five asset management companies with funds of at least £118bn and revenue of £245m. The shares traded at 224p.

Aim-listed Maclellan is buying First Security Group, the manned guard and key holding services group, for £18m. To help finance the deal it is placing 16.6m shares at 60p. The price slid 1 1/2p to 65p.

A new food range is helping resurrect sales at Revolution vodka bar owner Inventive Leisure, up 2 1/2p at 64p. Profits at the bar chain plunged 31% to £2.5m in the year to 30 June, but Inventive says like-for-like sales are up 1.1% in recent weeks.

It was the first day of trading on Aim for Allergy Therapeutics following a placing by broker KBC Peel Hunt at 73p and valuing the company at £46m. The group opened at 78p before settling at 74p.

Computer games maker SCI lifted its profit target for the last 12 months to £4.3m on sales of its Conflict Vietnam series. It has also won a North American deal for its Middle East terror game Conflict 4, as well as a new version of Carmageddon and a game based on the Quentin Tarantino film Reservoir Dogs. Shares rose 3 1/2p to 131 1/2p.