Market Report: Soros Fund Management invests in Clipper Logistics

Newly floated Clipper Logistics got a vote of confidence from legendary US investor George Soros yesterday. Quantum Partners, an investment fund run by Soros Fund Management, bought a 3.25 per cent slug of the company, which delivers people's online shopping.

The investment helped the Leeds-headquartered company, which runs Asos's order return service, climb 6.5p to 121p on its first day of unconditional trading.

Saga had no such luck – the recently listed over-50s insurer and cruise operator continued to fall further below its 185p float price, closing down 5.5p at 172.5p.

Bluechip traders were still sitting on their hands ahead of today's ECB meeting. The FTSE-100 closed down 17.67 points at 6,818.63.

Smith & Nephew topped the index, up 34p at 1,064p, after brokers Berenberg said any future bid from US rival Stryker would likely be around £12 a share. Stryker last month denied it was planning a bid for Smith & Nephew but admitted it had taken a look.

Companies trading ex-dividend also weighed on the Footsie, with National Grid losing 47p to 830.5p.

Despite a brief early rally, Tesco also pushed the top-flight index lower, with the supermarket closing down 4p at 293.5p.

Mothercare bubbled up on renewed rumours of private equity interest. Buyout specialist Advent International has been linked to a possible bid for the retailer, which last month reported a loss of £26.3m for the year to the end of March.

Despite reports that Advent is not planning an offer, the revived rumours helped Mothercare climb 11.75p to 193p.

Mid-cap listed Workspace Group jumped 24.5p to 608.5p, after the London-focused small-business landlord revealed the value of its portfolio passed £1bn for the first time last year.

Home shopping and educational supplies group Findel leapt 13p to 259.5p on a strong set of full-year numbers. Pre-tax profit at the small-cap company leapt from £11.8m to £22m last year.

On AIM, Rockhopper explorations improved 0.25p to 96p after signing a rig contract with Premier Oil, down 3.7p at 346.3p, in the Falklands.