London's equity markets failed to build on the progress made yesterday as New York dropped following a gloomy start on Wall Street. At the bell the FTSE 100 had drifted back below the 5,200 point line to 5,197.6 (an 11.5 point fall), while the techMARK 100 was 9.82 points easier at 1,057.88. Aim fared better rising 1.8 points to 834.3.

All in all it proved to be a fairly subdued news day, with stories of note few and far between.

Bouncy castle and balloon minnow Jumbo International provided some excitement as it announced the £250,000 acquisition of rival Supa-Bounce. In the year to September 2001, Supa-Bounce generated sales of £744,000 and losses of £103,000. Jumbo, by comparison, reported a £174,000 profit (£531,000 loss) for the half-year to June. Jumbo's share price inflated a quarter of a penny to 7.25p on the day.

Halladale Ventures, a joint venture between Aim-listed property developer Halladale and the Bank of Scotland was also in acquisitive mood. Despite the purchase of four Scottish sites by Halladale Ventures for £11.5 million, Halladale remained even at 50p.

DDD, the firm hoping to make glasses-free 3-D TV a reality, and environmental group Virotec also failed to progress in spite of their best efforts. DDD revealed that its technologies are now being showcased at both the National Geographic Museum in Washington and, somewhat bizarrely, by fireplace salesmen in the US. Virotec's management, meanwhile, expressed its opinion that with 'no debt and in excess of $13 million in the bank', the company is well positioned to deliver growth.

Elsewhere, there were board changes at telecoms group Glow Communications and Hartford, the restaurant operator formerly headed by high-fliers Matthew Freud, Nick Leslau and Nigel Wray.

It was all change at Glow as two new non-execs - John Byfield and Desmond Murray - arrived, finance director Mark Wright stepped down and chief operating officer Terry Boland became chief executive. Hartford welcomed aboard James Kowszun, previously finance director of pub companies SFI and Slug & Lettuce.

The day's final management change came at mining company Centamin Egypt, where 62-year old geologist Thomas Elder was appointed a non-executive director. Coincidentally, Elder currently services as chief executive at Mano River Resources and is also on the board at Gold Mines of Sardinia.

Centamin's shares moved up a quarter of a penny to 12p, and there were also small rises for two of its sector compatriots. First Quantum Minerals rose 1.5p to 160p following a positive drilling report from its 80 per cent-owned copper project in Zambia. Fusion Oil & Gas progressed 5 per cent to 41p as it signed a contract with Chevron/Texaco giving it use of a deep water discovery rig at its site in Mauritania.

Tomorrow

Keep an eye out for interim results from stockbroker/investment bank Numis, which, like many of its peers endured a difficult 2001. In the year to September, turnover dropped from £11.8 million to £6.6 million and profits fell from £5.96 million to just £300,000. The current year is said to have begun more positively, however, and the company recently said that first-half figures would be 'significantly ahead' of last year. Net cash balances of £11 million remain.