Market report: Tuesday close

MARKET newcomer

Today the shares fell back to 122½p but found new momentum and ended the day 11½p higher at 137p, pushing former England cricketer Phil Edmonds' stake to £20m.

White Nile has not made a penny in profit and has precious few assets, apart from the £9m raised as part of last week's float. Edmonds intends to use the proceeds to explore for oil in war-torn Sudan.

The success of the listing has caught a lot of City folk on the hop, including the stock market bears who were selling from the word go. But they have now got a bloody nose and are frantically scrambling to unwind their positions. It is that which has been behind the sharp rise in the share price. Some brokers fear private investors may soon be tempted to join in the fun. 'They could end up sitting on hefty losses if the price goes the wrong way,' warned one broker.

Another newcomer on the move was Zareba, set up to invest in mining ventures in Australia and Africa. The shares, which more than doubled yesterday, rose a further 0.26p to 2.38p.

Also in the spotlight was Mean Fiddler, steady at 53p, following yesterday's news of another bid approach. The move comes just four months after founder Vince Power tried to flog his 35% stake. Bidders are thought to include Irish music promoter Denis Desmond and rival IP Live.

Bullion Resources jumped 1.75p to 6.25p, at which point it was suspended as the group revealed it may become the target of a reverse takeover.

Share prices generally traded within a narrow range as Wall Street made a hesitant start to trading this afternoon. Back in London, the FTSE 100 index rose 17.1 at 5058.9.

BP rose ½p to 551p after announcing another major oil find in Palas-1, part of deepwater Block 31 off Angola. This is the fifth successful discovery in Angola and has tested at 5330 barrels a day.

Tate & Lyle was among the bluechip leaders, adding 7p to 503½p on positive comments by ABN Amro, which has moved from hold to add with a 560p target. The broker believes the market has yet to price in the full potential of artificial sweetener Sucralose. It says there is up to 23% upside in the shares.

Cable & Wireless rose 3¼p to 133¼p as blue-blooded broker Cazenove repeated its outperform rating following the resumption yesterday of its share buyback programme. ICI added5p to 283p with US investment bank Morgan Stanley lifting its target from 200p to 235p.

Aerospace parts supplier Smiths Group firmed 2½p to 859½p as broker UBS added it to its list of recommended companies, replacing mortgage lender HBOS, down 4p at 882p. Mining giant Anglo American put on 7p to 1322p after US investment bank JP Morgan repeated its underweight rating. It says: 'The shares have underperformed over the past year and that is set to continue as Anglo American's margins and project pipeline fall behind those of its competitors.'

Vislink was one of the best small-cap performers, up 4¼p to 32½p, after its US arm Microwave Radio Communications signed a $30m (£15.9m) contract with a North American provider of wireless communication services to build a replacement digital equipment connection as part of the industry regulator's upgrade programme.