Given Goshawk’s lowly share price, the insurer is seen as a bid target.The exploration minnow Northern Petroleum added 1.25p to 9.25p on rumours that drilling at the Avington field in Hampshire, in which the group has a 5 per cent stake, may be about to restart The field boasted of an oil find last August. That would be great going given Mothercare slumped to a pre-tax loss of £24m just last year.T Clarke ticked 7p better to 603.5p as investors moved into the stock before next week’s full-year figures. The word is the results from the electrical engineer will not disappoint and it could unveil a series of contract wins One is said to be with London’s Imperial College. He believes the retailer can achieve a pre-tax profit of £26m in the year ending March 2006.

Analysts are expecting it to be an upbeat affair with BA tipped to be on the offensive, rather than on the defensive, for the first time in many years.The FTSE 100 index dropped 12.0 points to 4,547.1 after weaker-than-expected US employment data. Lower down the pecking order, Mothercare dropped 5.5p to 356p despite a rather bullish visit by analysts to the group’s refurbished “Super Lite” store in Peckham. Investec believes a winning bid will have to contain a cash element of at least 25 per cent.British Airways was in demand, rising 12.5p to 328p, before next week’s annual investor day at the airline. “All of what was seen at Peckham gives support to the ongoing turnaround story at Mothercare,” said Mathew McEachran at Investec. “Despite the denial, we still believe KPN or another suitor will return with a higher bid of at least 120p per share,” said the broker.

KPN’s original offer, said to have been pitched at 110p, is reported as having been 90 per cent in shares and only 10 per cent in cash. On Thursday, shares in the mobile phone group soared to an all-time high on rumours KPN was looking to tap the debt market to raise cash for an improved offer for mm02.Although the Dutch operator denied the speculation, Investec Securities believes a takeover of the UK mobile phone group is looking increasingly likely. But the fact that some Amvescap directors feel a bid for the group is a possibility at current levels was enough to send investors piling into the stock yesterday.There was another day of brisk trade in mm02, steady at 111.25p, as 117 million shares changed hands. At a time when cash is pouring into American mutual funds, Amvescap is suffering from large outflows of capital. To blame is the poor performance of the group’s various US funds and the fact that it has recently been attacked by US regulatory authorities over the market-timing irregularities. All this has affected Amvescap earnings, and left its shares trading at a discount to peers. So what better time for a peer to pounce on the group?A move on the group is unlikely to be imminent.

If it were, its management team would be more likely to be busy planning a response rather than conducting meetings with analysts. Amvescap finished the day among the best blue-chip performers, up 12.5p to 460p.
So what caused all the excitement? Well, the company’s management team spent most of last week in meetings with UK-based analysts and investors. Dealing rooms in the Square Mile were alight with talk about Amvescap yesterday and it certainly got shares in the fund management giant moving. But to allow a company with 27 per cent of the market to buy up rivals just to close them down? What kind of a competition policy is that? Under the recently enacted Enterprise Act, the OFT was given the power to make its own decisions on mergers, free from political interference It doesn’t yet appear ready for such responsibility..