The company is looking to develop treatments for the Sars virus and the hospital superbug. Numis also urged investors not to get too excited about the windfall Lonmin will receive for its 27 per cent stake in Ghana’s Ashanti Goldfields. They pointed out that much of this money has already been earmarked for re-investment by the company.Detica jumped 15p to 555p on talk that the company has secured a number of large contracts in the US. “The buyer of the call options is most likely hoping that the much talked of bid for the company will soon finally emerge,” one dealer argued.Speculation that Goldman Sachs may not back a higher offer for Debenhams left shares in the retailer 4p lower at 471.5p. Goldman Sachs is part of a consortium including the private equity firm Permira and the US buyout giant Blackstone. Permira is leading a consortium of investors, known as Laragrove, which wants to buy Debenhams but found its original offer of £1.54bn trumped by a £1.66bn recommended bid from a rival consortium backed by CVC Capital and Texas Pacific.Although Lonmin put on 5p to 1,022.5p, analysts were heard warning that this year’s full-year results from the mining giant will have been hit hard by the prolonged strength of the South African rand Market professionals at Numis Securities were among them. Although it breached this level on several occasions yesterday, the gains proved unsustainable as bears quickly emerged.

Market professionals believe that should the index close above the 4,370 level in the coming days, a further 100-point gain could easily be achieved.Although EMI finished 5p lower at 172.5p, traders drew attention to some chunky trades in the music company’s stock options. Dealers reported strong demand for December 200p call options. Those buying such an option will be betting on a major spike in the value of EMI shares over the next two months. According to dealers, 4,370 is an important resistance level for the blue-chip index.

JP Morgan worries that the “unfocused nature” of the company’s brand portfolio is a barrier to it boosting sales significantly.Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 had a volatile session. It traded at 4,377.3 early on in the day but ended just 4.8 points higher at 4,352.3 as a wave of selling hit the index after a weak start on Wall Street. Panmure raised its price target on stock to 280p from 240p and urged clients to buy into the company.Cadbury Schweppes was not so lucky, falling 4.75p to 394.5p, as JP Morgan told clients to reduce their exposure to the drinks and chocolates group before an investor conference due to be hosted by the company next week. The US broker believes Monday’s meeting will confirm that 2003 has been a tough year for Cadbury and that there is little prospect for a turnaround in trading conditions in 2004. Also helping Reuters higher yesterday was a rather upbeat note from the broker Panmure before Monday’s third-quarter results from the company. Dealers reported heavy institutional demand for British Airways and Reuters yesterday as City professionals used the two stocks as a way to bet on a strong recovery by the US economy in the months ahead. Both companies are highly dependent on the performance of the world’s largest economy.