Britain's top shares fell on Wednesday as miners and retailers such as GUS dipped, but the FTSE 100 share index recovered from one-week lows to close above 6,000 points for an eighth consecutive day.
Renewed bid talk circled the London Stock Exchange, sending its shares more than 15 percent higher. Appetite among investors for retailers has been limited in recent months due to concerns about the spending power of the British consumer. That poor sentiment was further knocked by industry data this week showing weak retail sales in March.
GUS fell 3.1 percent after it reported disappointing performance at its DIY unit, Homebase. Shares in Kingfisher - which owns Homebase rival B&Q - fell 2.1 percent.
Britain's top electrical retailer DSG International fell 2.3 percent after it said it was buying a 75 percent stake in a French online retailer of photographic and electronic products.
The FTSE 100 closed down 15.7 points, or 0.3 percent, at 6,000.8. After US stock markets began trading in positive territory, the index trimmed earlier losses to its lowest level in more than a week at 5,974.5.
The FTSE 100 has repeatedly breached five-year highs this year, thanks to solid corporate earnings, rampant merger and acquisition activity and relatively cheap valuations.
But those rapid gains have triggered questions from analysts about how much further stocks can rise this year.
"It is no real surprise that we are seeing volatility picking up in the last few weeks. It has been something close to one-way traffic for the most part of this year with constant new highs," said Alex Scott at Seven Investment Management.
"The risk reward is less attractive than it was at the start of the year in stocks, but it is still preferable to many other asset classes."
Miners slipped as dealers said investors were cashing in on recent gains, which had been fuelled by record metal prices.
Kazakhmys fell 2.3 percent, while pure copper play Antofagasta slipped 2.5 percent and diversified miner Xstrata shed 2.4 percent.
Several FTSE 100 stocks also managed to buck the lower trend, led by brewer SABMiller as it unveiled rising beer volumes and strong business in Europe and Asia. The stock rose 4 percent.
Rival Scottish & Newcastle gained 1.9 percent, bouncing slightly from Tuesday's 4.7 percent fall when it announced it was buying the Foster's lager brand in Europe.
Power producer British Energy gained 1.8 percent as European carbon dioxide emission quota prices hit fresh record highs.
The rise, if prolonged, will feed into higher electricity bills, and British Energy, which generates most of its power through nuclear plants, has a lower exposure to the rising costs of emissions than do its coal- and gas-focused rivals.
Mobile phone giant Vodafone rose 0.6 percent, having earlier surged as much as 4 percent on talk US peer Verizon might soon make an approach for the UK company's 45 percent stake in their US joint venture, Verizon Wireless.
Back on the downside, property company Hammerson fell 2.5 percent as its shares traded without the right to the latest dividend payout.
Mid-cap Forth Ports, also trading ex-dividend, slipped 3.8 percent, with dealers saying bid talk in the ports sector had faded.