The London Stock Exchange has abandoned plans to merge with the owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange after concluding not enough of the Canadian group’s shareholders would back the deal.

Battered oil giant BP was hit by another sell-off today as £5bn (€6.06bn) was wiped off the value of the blue-chip heavyweight.

TOM Healy is to step down as chief executive of the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) in June after 20 years in the job.

The board of the Irish Stock Exchange has announced that its chief executive, Tom Healy, is to retire from the Exchange in June 2007.

Nasdaq today ruled out raising its hostile bid for the London Stock Exchange ahead of the New York exchange’s self-imposed deadline at midnight tomorrow.