Market report: Thursday 14.00

BEST performer and one of the most heavily traded blue-chips today was

The shares rose 4½p to 111½p - their highest for six months - as more than 60m changed hands.

Speculators tuned in following comments from Lord Hollick, outgoing chief executive of United Business Media - who is to join US private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in April and may have already targeted his first deal.

The Labour peer says he would not rule out making a bid for ITV, a company he knows better than most. It was he who sold UBM's chain of regional television stations at the top of the market to Carlton and Granada for £1.75bn, before they merged to form ITV. That followed a failed attempt by UBM to merge with Carlton in 1999. The prospect of buying back ITV for a knockdown price may prove irresistible to him.

The rest of the market briefly climbed back above the 4800 support level before running out of steam. The Dow Jones Industrial Average bounced overnight as investors ignored November's record $60bn (£33bn) US trade deficit. In London, the FTSE 100 index's lead was cut to 7.2 points at 4790.8.

Stockbroker Durlacher's shares were suspended at 108½p as it is in talks that could lead to a reverse takeover. Durlacher rose to prominence on the back of the internet boom when its shares surged to 6129p, valuing the company at almost £2bn. Since then they have dived as low as 62½p before the company last month attracted takeover speculation. These days it is worth just £21m.

The talks are likely to excite City speculators, who have been braced for a further round of consolidation among the stockbrokers. WH Ireland, down 4p at 132½p, received an approach last year and Charles Stanley, up 7½p at 282½p, was tipped as a bid target for US broker Citigroup, although folk in the Square Mile gave the story little credence.

Cairn Energy slipped 2p to 1066p as broker UBS cut its target from 1390p to 1310p. The shares had perked up on Monday on news of a gas find in India.

Music publisher EMI rose 6¾p to 262½p, helped by bullish comments from US securities house Morgan Stanley which has increased its earnings forecasts and raised its share-price target from 205p to 246p. Despite this, it remains underweight.

Rail engineer Balfour Beatty hit a new high, up 6¾p to 320¾p, after issuing an upbeat trading statement in which it said work was rolling in from Network Rail for track renewals and from London Underground, where it is a shareholder in the Metronet maintenance company.

However, the company is likely to be under scrutiny in the coming months for its role in the Hatfield rail crash of 2000, with track managers facing a year-long manslaughter trial. Balfour also warned that it may have to write down the value of its US railroad maintenance business after the division dived into the red and was forced into a restructuring.

US investment bank JP Morgan has retained its neutral rating on independent airports operator BAA, up 2½p at 588½p, but has lifted its 12-month target price to 650p.

It is looking for substantial growth in both longhaul and Gatwick-led low-cost carrier schedules, which have already been partly reflected in last month's traffic numbers.