A rather topsy-turvey session in the London equity market saw the leading stocks finish the day on an easier note as profit-taking overwhelmed an early burst of buying interest.

But there was never any really powerful downside pressure. Rather it was an orderly winding down of positions ahead of the US Thanksgiving Day holiday.

US investors traditionally extend their holiday to take in the Friday and dealers in London said they expected activity across most European markets to fall away for the rest of the week.

"After the super performance of the past week or so it makes sense to book some of those profits," said one market-maker. He said the flurries of profit-taking had helped dealers level some of the short positions that have caused them much anxiety.

He also noted fresh bursts of take-over speculation across the market. "The recent spate of bids is expected to continue and that more than anything will help to underpin the market," he said.

Another bid emerged yesterday as Emerson of the US moved in, extending its sequence of winning performances to a fifth straight session to mop up the minority stake in Astec BSR.

Apart from the take-over hints, there was plenty of company news for dealers and investors to get their teeth into.

Granada Group, the hotels and leisure group, vied for top spot in the FTSE 100 performance table after reassuring numbers and a surprisingly optimistic trading update, pointing to robust business throughout its chain of hotels and other businesses.

And the second-line stocks were featured by exceptional gains for Johnson Matthey after the company said it was refocusing its businesses.

Turnover was a relatively decent 850 million shares.