Market report: Monday close

MORE misery was being piled on shareholders of Aim-listed

It follows reports the Financial Services Authority and the London Stock Exchange are investigating movements in the share price ahead of the oil and gas explorer's admission last week that its main project in Greece had come up dry.

Only a month ago, the company and its broker Evolution Securities, down 4p at 120p, raised a further £45m from shareholders by way of a placing at 390p a share. Last Wednesday's announcement from Regal saw those same shares collapse 60% to 100½p, wiping £200m from the company's value.

Brokers say the focus of any investigation by the FSA, or the LSE, will be on the placing and the rumoured sale of up to a quarter of the company's shares by overseas investors which was not disclosed. Anyone holding more than 3% of shares in a company must disclose when they add to or reduce holdings. Regal says it is unaware of an investigation into its affairs.

The rest of the sector got a much-needed boost today as rival exploration player Soco International unveiled a new find in Vietnam. The group has tested an offshore well and found it flows at more than 13,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. Soco slipped 3¼p to 478p. Share prices generally posted modest gains in thin trading. London's FTSE 100 index rose 18 points to 4989.8 as Wall Street edged better this afternoon.

Forget about a recovery at struggling MFI - down ¾p at 110p - was the message from broker Credit Suisse First Boston, which cut it 12-month target 9% to 105p.

It has been telling clients that MFI's growth in new orders has been slowing since the winter sale ended, supporting the company's view of an increasingly uncertain trading outlook. The broker also describes further deterioration in MFI's joinery arm, Howden, as 'most worrying'.

Vodafone firmed 1½p to a new high for the year of 146½p ahead of full-year numbers tomorrow. Broker ABN Amro expects the mobile phones operator to return about £4bn to shareholders via a buyback-Anything up to £10bn is possible, it says. Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton, 1½p dearer at 638p, is expected to sweeten its A$9.2bn (£4bn) offer for nickel and uranium producer WMC Resources as shareholders shun the bid.

BHP has so far secured less than 8% of WMC shares since it swept London-listed Xstrata, 16p better at 960p, from the field and apparently won the fight for WMC. BHP is almost certain to extend the offer a second time beyond the 3 June deadline, and analysts believe the company will raise the all-cash bid of $7.85 a share, possibly by adding paper to the mix.

Meanwhile, UBS has cut its targets for other miners. It remains a buyer of Antofagasta, 12p dearer at 1088p, but has reduced its target from 1500p to 1450p, while Anglo American, up 12p at 1288p, in which it has a neutral rating, has been cut from 1500p to 1375p. BHP Billiton, target slashed from 745p to 525p, and Rio Tinto, 10p higher at 1604p, sights lowered from 2050p to 1875p, are seen as neutral.

Multi was unmoved on 3p after increasing its stake in Lorien, up 3½p at 43p, to 850,000 (4.6%) and along with its biggest shareholder Southwind owns 4.1m shares (22%). Multi is now considering making a full offer for Lorien.