Headline shares ended the session flat, with weakness in hedge fund manager Man Group (LON:EMG) and insurer Prudential (LON:PRU) offsetting a bright performance from Asia-facing bank Standard Chartered (LON:STAN). At the close of business, the FTSE100 was down less than half a point at 5,262.54 with the FTSE250 off 90.87 points at 9,932.03 and the FTSE Smallcaps 16.34 points lower at 2,856.11. US stocks were lower in late morning trade, investors remaining nervous over the parlous state of European economies.  Approaching the close in London, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 75 points at 10,546, the S&P500 lost 10 points at 1,126 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 17 points at 2,330.

LONDON MARKETS

The FTSE gave up midday gains during the afternoon, sentiment dented by a poor start on Wall Street, with Prudential (LON:PRU) a focus as it announced the launch of its £14.5bn rights issue and Man Group (LON:EMG) attracting a negative reaction to acquisition news. Hedge fund manager Man Group (LON:EMG) lost 19.6p at 201.9p, the biggest blue chip casualty, after announcing the acquisition of peer GLG Partners for $1.6bn, a 55% premium to Friday's closing price. Investors are concerned that Man are over-paying for the asset at a time when the industry is under heavy pressure from politicians and regulators. The big corporate story of the day involved insurer Prudential (LON:PRU) which announced the launch of its £14.5bn rights issue to fund its proposed acquisition of AIA Group. The group also updated on first-quarter performance, reporting a new record for Q1 sales of £807m. Prudential (LON:PRU) shares slipped 8p at 534.5p in response.

The news dampened spirits amongst peers, with Aviva (LON:AV.) down 9.9p at 317p, Old Mutual (LON:OML) off 2.3p at 117.6p and Standard Life Plc (LON:SL.) 3p lower at 187.2p.

The banking sector was divided by the East-West focus, with Asia-facing Standard Chartered (LON:STAN). topping the leaderboard, up 69p at 1,691p and HSBC ahead 1.6p at 649.1p, while Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) sank 0.38p at 57.3p, Royal Bank Of Scotland Group Plc (LON:RBS) edged down 0.5p at 46.76p and Barclays (LON:BARC) eased 4.2p at 304.7p.

BP (LON:BP.)> had moved firmly higher early in the session on news of some success in its battle to stem the flow of crude into the Gulf…

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