By Saxon East, news editor

Like a zombie that just keeps on coming back from the dead, the rumour that Britain’s third-largest general insurer, RSA, was up for grabs got the City a bit excited.

The takeover rumour, with AIG being touted as the unlikely predator, appeared to help push up the share price by 3.5p to 126p on Wednesday last week.

The speculation refused to die down, with RSA’s share price continuing to hover around that level for the rest of the week.

As the RSA story continued to rumble on, the group snapped up Swedish insurer Sveland P&C for £12m in cash, strengthening its presence in the Scandinavian market.

Elsewhere, Jelf clocked in at 44.5p, a healthy rise from its previous low of 37p. Someone, somewhere has faith in the stock and the promise of good times ahead.

Prices

Market indices AIM movers Price 7-day Currency

FTSE 100 5545.61 Novae 314 7.2% Dollar 1.61

FTSE 250 9720.88 RSA 126 5.9% Euro 1.11

FTSE All-share 2835.77 Jelf 44.5 20.3% Yen 148.60