Footsie closes down after sluggish day

The FTSE 100 Index has closed down 20.4 points at 5251.4.

Enterprise Oil shares surged 16% after agreeing a £4.3bn (€7bn) takeover by Shell.

The company has seen its share price lift in recent weeks following takeover speculation and today gained 100p to 729p - soaring past the offer price of 725p.

Shares were also buoyed by talk that a bidding war could be sparked by rival Italian firm Eni.

Shell nudged up 5p at 528p while rival BP slipped a penny to 624p - also amid speculation about the future movement of oil prices, which have shot up on the escalating violence in the Middle East.

The deal failed to liven up the overall market, however, and the City had a sluggish return to trading following the Easter break.

The subdued trading came after Wall Street struggled for direction yesterday and opened lower today.

In London, among the fallers was British Airways, which slid amid the higher oil price - with concerns about increased costs. Shares were off 15½p at 228½p.

Banks and telecoms stocks dragged on the market in a slack day for news, with HSBC 18p weaker at 794p, Royal Bank of Scotland down 12p at £17.96, Lloyds TSB off 11p at 711p and HBOS 16½p lower at 742p.

Among the telecoms, BT, which today said the closure of its Concert joint venture with America's AT&T was complete, slipped 6½p to 273½p.

Cable & Wireless was down 4½p at 219¼p while market heavyweight Vodafone was off ¾p at 129p.