MAN Group continued to lead gains in mid-morning trading after positive sentiment from analysts coupled with a rise in the net asset value of its flagship fund.

Shares in the hedge fund specialist rose 6.1 per cent to 267.4 pence, leaving it as a standout performer, well ahead of the chasing pack.

Land Securities Group was buoyed by a number of upgrades across the property sector, including one from UBS. Its analysts raised the price target on the group by 6 per cent and upgrading its view from neutral to buy. It nudged upwards be 2.3 per cent to 697.3 pence.

Similarly, Hammerson was feeling the benefit of broker upgrades also securing a buy rating, up from its previous neutral label also from UBS. Its share price rose 2.2 per cent to 406.2 pence.

Recent trading has seen investor interest move to the miners though and Berkeley Mineral Resources felt the benefit yesterday after an optimistic trading statement about the growing demand for base metals.

The news was greeted with a stampede of buying activity from investors sending the stock rocketing up the top ten trades list.

Elsewhere, news that BP had announced the first major contracts on the rehabilitation of the Rumaila field in Southern Iraq initially had investors buying only for that trend to reverse in the afternoon.

Three contractor groups have been selected to drill wells, worth a total of £327.8 million ($500 million).

Top ten trades
Source: The Share Centre
Tuesday 7 April 2010 (full day)

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Buy
1. Lloyds Banking Group, 4 per cent
2. Royal Bank of Scotland, 3 per cent
3. Berkeley Mineral Resources, 3 per cent
4. Desire Petroleum, 3 per cent
5. KEA Petroleum 2 per cent
6. HMV Group, 2 per cent
7. Rockhopper Exploration, 1 per cent
8. ITV, 1 per cent
9. Aviva, 1 per cent
10. Solo Oil, 1 per cent

Sell
1. Lloyds Banking Group, 4 per cent
2. BP, 3 per cent
3. Desire Petroleum, 2 per cent
4. Barclays, 2 per cent
5. Royal Bank of Scotland, 2 per cent
6. Tesco, 2 per cent
7. Vodafone Group, 1 per cent
8. Afren, 1 per cent
9. Solo Oil, 1 per cent
10. National Grid, 1 per cent