London equities markets moved lower in opening trade on Monday, pressured further by Friday's late sell-off on Wall Street in the wake of weaker than expected economic data. But a measure of bid speculation over the weekend helped contain overall losses.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.4 per cent to 6,136.2, or 24 points matching the amount of ground conceded on Friday after third US gross domestic product came in well short of forecasts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 73 points lower at 12,090.3 on Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite 1.2 per cent weaker at 2,350.6. Lower down the UK market, the FTSE 250 fell 0.5 per cent to 10,306.0, a decline of 48 points.

Amvescap, the fund manager highly exposed to US markets, was one of the weakest stocks on the London market. It lost 2.1 per cent to 441.8p in line with weakening sentiment toward the world's biggest economy.

Away from macroeconomic factors, shares in commercial broadcaster ITV extended their break from the upside on weekend press reports that it was considering bidding for Scottish Media Group. Worries about the potential capital expenditure at the company many investor still hoped would be the target for a bid sent its shares 1.8 per cent lower to 104.8p. SMG, meanwhile, rose 6.7 per cent to 59½p.

Standard Life, the insurer, also made gains of 2.1 per cent to 289p in the light of reports that Axa was preparing a bid for it.

The troubled online gaming sector, cleaned out by legislation banning internet gaming in the US, cut its losses after 888 Holdings confirmed in was in merger talks, rumoured to be with PartyGaming. Shares in 888 were 4.4 per cent higher at 112¼p with PartyGaming 4.2 per cent stronger at 31¼p

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