Apr. 24--Anything to take dealers' minds off the parlous state of the UK economy was welcomed with open arms following the calamitous Budget.

Thankfully, a couple of takeover tales did. Speculators chased testing group Intertek 131p higher before the shares closed 78p better at 1004p on rumours of a £2.2bn, or £14 a share, bid from SGS, a Swiss rival and one of the world's largest consumer goods testers.

Acquisitive Intertek inspects, audits and tests for safety defects in many products and has benefited from US legislation that insists that imported toys be safety checked before they go on sale.

It reported a strong set of full-year results in March, which resulted in broker Altium upgrading current year pre-tax profit estimates to £165m from £148m.

Although a significant global recession would affect the business, the broker believes its global diversification will help mitigate the impact and provide the opportunity for growth.

If SGS does have Intertek on its radar, it will need to come to some arrangement with Lone Pine Capital, which owns 12.1pc of the equity. The hedge fund is run by Steven Mandel who surely would take £14 a share for his stock yesterday.

Hyperactive punters also homed in on Shire, sending shares of Britain's third biggest pharmaceuticals group up 50p before they ended 23p better at 868p. Viagra maker Pfizer is known to be on the acquisition trail and it was revived gossip that it could be about to fork out £15 a share for Shire, which sent pulses racing.

Shire has been popular with fund managers after recently entering at three year deal with GlaxoSmithKline (32 1/2p easier at 987p) to co-promote Vyvanse in adults, the treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. GSK is to provide 600 representatives, doubling the Vyvanse sales force, and introduce the product to 70,000 new doctors.

Showing plenty of Bulldog spirit on St George's Day, the Footsie advanced a further 51 points by lunchtime. But profit-takers moved in when Wall Street traded 82 points lower at the outset, leaving the close in London 12.43 points lower at 4,018.23. The Street of Dreams was rocked by data showing the pace of sales of existing homes in the US fell 3pc in March to a sharply lower-than-expected 4.57m units.

Platinum giant Lonmin soared 118p to 1357p following a 30pc rise in second-quarter platinum sales and news of a £390m refinancing. The funds will be used to lengthen the tenure of existing facilities. Investec advises clients to now take profits ahead of the interim figures on May 11.