Cairn maintains rally on positive note

The Edinburgh-based explorer started trading at a re-valued rate on Monday, as shares traded without rights to the 160p payout from its sale of a large part of its Indian business.

Yesterday, its shares gained more than 3 per cent or 11.7p to 356.6p after UBS said that it was “more comfortable with the story” after meeting with Cairn’s management, and has subsequently cut the discount to net asset value (NAV) that it previously used to set its price targets.

But BP’s first dividend hike since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill failed to inspire traders.

Analysts concentrated instead on the upcoming US trial over the Deepwater Horizon disaster and shares slipped 3.1p at 486.5p.

The FTSE 100 index was down just 1.94 points at 5,890.26 as uncertainty over the outcome of talks between Greece and its creditors saw traders ditch riskier stocks. It had been as much as 40 points lower but pulled back most of its earlier losses as hopes rose late in the day that a deal could be reached.

Coalminer ATH Resources saw shares rise more than 3 per cent after Swedish investor Peter Gyllenhammar took a large stake in the company. The firm, which is based in Doncaster but has all five of its open cast pits north of the Border, gained 1p to 32p after Gyllenhammar took on the 20 per cent stake previously owned by private equity company Alchemy.

The Perth-based investment group Braveheart remained tight-lipped after a 27 per cent drop in its share price. The firm fell 4p to 10.5p, despite no announcement having been made to the Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, US stocks ended higher on the Greek hopes. The Dow Jones industrial average ended at its highest level since May 2008 last night, rising 33 points to close at 12,878. It had been down as many as 62 points in the first half-hour of trading.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 3 points to 1,347. The Nasdaq composite rose 2 points to 2,904.

Stocks also rose on news that US job openings soared to the highest level in nearly three years in December.