Market Report: Rothschild miner Bumi hits a slump

More bad news has been dug up for Nat Rothschild at his coal miner Bumi. Shares in Indonesia's Bumi Resources hit a three-year low in Jakarta after Asia's top thermal coal exporter posted a first-half loss at the weekend.

London-listed parent Bumi Plc, established by financier Rothschild and Indonesian investor Samin Tan, which owns a 29 per cent stake in Bumi Resources, has already been hit by boardroom disagreements and worries over debts this year.

Bumi, which has had to contend with falling thermal coal prices and a lack of demand from China, also updated the market on a $231m (£146m) loan that was due to be repaid earlier this year. In July it said the repayment is delayed and yesterday it confirmed talks continue between Bumi Resources and Recapital about a "new repayment schedule".

Bumi slumped 15p to 340p.

In better news Aim-listed Xcite Energy continued its ascendance that began in July. Traders back from their August holidays have taken note of the gushing oil at its Bentley oilfield and have even whispered that Xcite might look interesting to a bigger rival such as Statoil. It finished the day up 1p to 93p.

Is there a false market in Marks & Spencer shares? The question has been on the lips of some City traders. On the back of weeks of speculation that a potential bidder is circling the high street giant, the shares have jumped more than 10 per cent since the beginning of August. On Friday Bloomberg reported that private-equity outfit CVC Capital Partners had explored a bid, sending the shares up again.

Yesterday they eased back, losing 8.9p to 362.8p, as takeover talk faded, a reassurance to those shorting the stock. Shore Capital scribe Clive Black questioned whether there is an "orderly market in M&S shares".

M&S has not made a formal statement about the bid – if it did, how far would the shares fall, he mused. He said: "Whilst noting the mark-up, which provides lesser immediate upside, we retain our positive stance for now."

Home shopping group Findel climbed 0.9p to 6p. Last week WH Ireland reiterated its buy rating with a target price of 12.5p, up from 8p. The online and catalogue retailer, which runs businesses including door-to-door cleaning products brochure Kleeneze, looks like it has turned a corner. There was even very vague rumours that it could be looking at a rights issue to raise money to grow further.

With a short week ahead, the FTSE 100 appeared to be still on holiday and fell only 0.89 points to 5775.7 after remaining flat on Friday.

Carnival, which had its outperform rating reiterated by analysts at Exane BNP Paribas sailed into steadier waters and was up 78p to 2170p. Scribes at Citigroup were in the holiday mood and said the cruise sector has recovered after the Costa Concordia disaster with bookings on the rise.

Over on the FTSE 250, a proposed total dividend of 5.5p and a profits rise at specialist chemicals maker Yule Catto helped shares move up 16.2p to 158p.

Troubled military equipment maker Chemring issued a profits warning blaming IT problems and its shares nosedived 46.5p to 324p, the worst performer of the mid-cap market. There was no update of a possible bid from Carlyle.

On Aim, Fox Marble, the first company out of Kosovo to list on Aim, will use the £9.65m raised from its listing at 20p a share to fund a processing plant to cut and polish marble. Kosovar marble already has a claim to fame – it was used in the construction of America's White House.

Explorer Red Emperor Resources has struck water, not oil, at its Shabeel North well in Puntland, Somalia. The explorer, which last week suspended its shares awaiting the news, saw its share price spiral down 40.7 per cent to 4.7p, a 3.2p slide. Partner Range Resources, in a joint venture with Horn Petroleum Corp at the project, edged up slightly 0.2p to 5.1p. Despite the disappointment the partners plan to look at other wells in the area.

Futura Medical shares drooped to 47.5p, down 11p, after it admitted talks with Reckitt Benckiser to sell its CSD500 condom have ended with no deal.