ITV helps FTSE recover losses

ITV jumped 6.16% to £1.12 on confirmation it is in early stage merger talks with cable group NTL. SABMiller also rose 3.41% to £10.93 after it reported a 22% rise in half year pre-tax profit to $1.4bn from $1.1bn and said it remained confident for future trading. On the downside, Royal & Sun Alliance fell 1.95% to £1.50 after it reported a drop in pre-tax profits for the first nine months of the year to £473m compared with £583m a year ago. The miners were also hit by news of metal prices falling overnight. Rio Tinto dropped 0.94% to £29.62, Xstrata fell 1.88% to £23.54 and Kazakhmys ...