Market Report: Aurelian investors counting the cost of well disappointment

Punters in Aurelian were nursing burnt fingers today.

The AIM-listed oil and gas explorer saw its share price plummet more than 60% as investors abandoned the group after disappointing news from its major Polish project.

Aurelian announced that gas recovery from its Trzek-3 well was considerably lower than hoped, prompting it to drop 28p to 18p, with City voices warning it raised serious question marks over the future of the well.

It is not the first time Aurelian has run into problems in the area, after testing of its Trzek-2 well back in March was knocked by mechanical problems.

It was triple witching day in the City, as stock index options, stock options and stock index futures all expired at the same time, yet despite being poised for a choppy morning as a result, traders were surprised at the lack of volatility.

As European finance ministers, along with US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, met in Poland, yesterday's joint action by central banks to increase the liquidity of the banking sector continued to push the FTSE 100 up. The benchmark index climbed 44.86 points to 5382.4, stretching its winning streak - which has seen it add nearly 5% - to a fourth day.

Gossips were still maintaining that Inmarsat could attract an approach, as the mobile satellite group shot up 26p to 523.75p, meaning it has advanced more than 11% this week alone. With possible private equity interest still being mentioned, there was also chatter suggesting one of its peers may make a move for the company.

ITV - another stock that has seen reheated bid mutterings recently - rose a further 1.65p to 57.78p. The broadcaster was helped by the scribblers at Deutsche Bankupgrading their rating to "buy", saying it and its peers tend to enjoy a strong rebound near the start of any rally in the markets.

Break-up talk helped Reed Elsevier tick up 3.9p to 494.65p, after Panmure Gordon's Alex DeGroote claimed the publishing giant should hive off its exhibitions business, saying its share price could reach 722p as a result.

3i managed to go out on a high on its last day as a blue-chip stock, shifting up 2.5p to 202.15p. The private equity firm, whose portfolio includes lingerie retailer Agent Provocateur, will start trading on the FTSE 250 from Monday - along with John Wood Group (down 6.5p to 563.25p) - as a result of the latest indices reshuffle.

Taking their places will be packaging group Bunzl, which fell 0.5p to 786.5, and fund manager Ashmore, 0.6p ahead at 404.4p.

There was speculation the takeover of Sportingbet by Ladbrokes could soon be agreed. Yet despite claims the bookmaker may raise its approach to 80p a pop, the online gaming group slipped 0.25p to 52.25p as traders treated the vague rumours with scepticism.

Elsewhere, talk that punters' favourite Gulf Keystone Petroleum could attempt a $200 million (£126.5 million) placing saw the oil explorer slide 8.5p to 169.5p.

Asian Citrus Holdings had plenty of juice in its tank, as the orange producer spurted up 2.75p to 50.5p. The group, which supplied more than 68,000 tonnes of the fruit to supermarkets in China last year, announced a 90.9% jump in its pre-tax profit.