Royal & SunAlliance (R&SA) bucked the trend yesterday when it finished the best performer in a relatively moribund FTSE 100.
On Tuesday the beleagured insurer was downgraded by rating agency Standard & Poor's and analysts thought the news would drag R&SA fortunes down further.
But the stock in fact rose 12p higher at 118p after 66m shares changed hands. Rumours that Cazenove had backed its rights issue and group chief executive Bob Mendelsohn had resigned helped bolster its stock.
R&SA would not comment on either rumour.
