COMMENT
This Week's Market Movers

By Stuart Watson (TMFTiger)
December 23, 2005

The stock market may be winding down for Christmas but this week saw its fair share of activity. Since Monday, the FTSE has climbed a sprightly 75 points to 5,607.

Biggest Movers in the FTSE 350 (as at Friday 9am)

Risers
1.	Carphone Warehouse (LSE: CPW)	+13.1%
2.	MyTravel (LSE: MT.S)	+11.6%
3.	Dairy Crest (LSE: DCG)	+10.4%
4.	BAE Systems (LSE: BA.)	+10.2%
5.	George Wimpey (LSE: WMPY)	+10.1%

Fallers
1.	Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX)	-9.1%
2.	F&C Asset Management (LSE: FCAM)	-6.2%
3.	Spirent (LSE: SPT)	-5.3%
4.	Soco International (LSE: SIA)	-4.7%
5.	RHM (LSE: RHM)	-3.9%

Takeover news again featured heavily with Carphone Warehouse (LSE: CPW) announcing the purchase of OneTel for £132m to strengthen its position in the UK's home telephone market. Carphone's shares moved up 13.1% to 271.5p.

Another company on the prowl was Johnston Press (LSE: JPR). The newspaper company, easing 0.7% to 454.5p, has splashed out £160m to buy the owner of The Scotsman. Elsewhere, First Technology (LSE: FRS) jumped 30.3% to 290p after succumbing to a £207m offer from Honeywell (NYSE: HON) while hope of a potential disposal of Ladbrokes saw Hilton (LSE: HG.) gain 3.0% to 364.5p.

Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY) continued to tidy its cupboard with the sale of Goldfish to Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MWD). Lloyds' shares rose 1.7% to 491.5p. BSkyB (LSE: BSY) was unchanged at 499.5p as it passed the 8m subscriber mark and re-affirmed its intention to reach 10m customers by 2010.

Bid rumours helped to push Diary Crest (LSE: DCG) 10.4% higher to 532.5p while BAE Systems (LSE: BA.) gained 10.2% to 388p on the back of a deal to supply Eurofighter jets to Saudi Arabia.

Wilson Bowden (LSE: WLB) boosted the housebuilding sector with news that it had seen a significant uplift in reservations. Its shares climbed 9.8% to 1,466p. Other housing-related shares benefited, including Wimpey (LSE: WMPY), Redrow (LSE: RDW) and Countrywide (LSE: CWD), which rose 10.1%, 8.5% and 7.5% respectively.

Investors seemed displeased with the news that Unilever (LSE: ULVR) is to retain its dual-company structure. Its shares were marked down 1.2% to 575.5p. Meanwhile, Rentokil Initial (LSE: RTO) was steadfast at 162p after it announced it was freezing its final salary pension scheme.

It's nearly the end of the road for Marconi (LSE: MONI). This week its shareholders approved the sale of the majority of its business to Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERICY). The remainder of Marconi will be renamed Telent.

A few oil companies slipped up this week after it was revealed the Faucon-1 field in Mauritania was unlikely to be commercial viable. Those affected include Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX), down 9.1% to 891p, and Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW), 1.1% lower at 272.5p.

Other shares on the slide included Sarantel (LSE: SLG). The producer of mobile phone antennae collapsed 46.3% to 25.5p when it warned of order delays. Recruitment outfit MSB International (LSE: MSB) tumbled 18.0% to 36.5p thanks to a profit warning.

BioProgress (LSE: BPRG) bounded 8.5% higher to 57.5p on the back a €12.5m acquisition of a French specialty pharmaceutical company. British Polythene Industries (LSE: BPI) was another big winner, racing ahead 12.3% to 502.5p on news that annual profits would exceed previous estimates.

Finally, a boardroom battle was resolved this week as shareholders led by Laxey Partners ousted the chairman and two non-executive directors from Wyevale Garden Centres (LSE: WGC). Shares in the horticultural company put on 2.1% to 480p after it also warned of a small decline in like-for-like sales.

The Market Next Week

The London stock market opens at 8am on Wednesday 28 December and shuts at 12:30pm on Friday 30 December. No major companies are expected to report results, however. The Fool office will be closed all next week and our next articles will be published on Tuesday 3 January.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at The Motley Fool!