Resignation and speculation proved to be a perfect recipe for investment in Venture Production yesterday, pushing the shares up as the City digested a rich day of news from the oil and gas group.

The resignation of 3i’s representative on its board triggered talk that Centrica was about to snap up its stake at a premium. However, it is understood that Graeme Sword, 3i’s head of oil and gas, stepped down to remove a potential conflict of interest should Centrica make a raised offer for Venture or 3i shares.

Venture ended up 7p at 799p, having soared to 818½p at one point.

Centrica is thought to be considering raising its offer above the 725p price that both 3i and Venture Production have rejected. If Centrica does buy 3i’s stake, its holding would move from 23.5 per cent to 29 per cent, just above the maximum that it can reach without making a bid.

Centrica’s talks with EDF to buy a 25 per cent stake in British Energy are dragging on, with EDF believed to be demanding £3.1 billion in cash rather than Centrica’s stake in SPE, the Belgian power generator, and threatening to seek other buyers. This may be the excuse that Centrica, up 6¾p at 227¾p, needs to drop the deal altogether and leave it less stretched to make a full bid for Venture.

The FTSE 100 clawed back all of Monday’s fall and a little more, closing up 163.23 points at 3,926.14, helped by a recovery on Wall Street, strong corporate results throughout Britain and a well-received economic stimulus package in Japan.

Barclays was one of only three blue-chip stocks in the red, falling 1.1p to 148p as it revealed that it had selected CVC to buy its iShares business at a rumoured price of £3 billion, short of more bullish expectations.

Marks & Spencer spread some cheer among retailers with better-than-expected sales and it rose 31½p to 296p. Retail stocks were also helped by a recovery in consumer confidence in March, according to the monthly GfK NOP survey. DSG International rose 2p to 20¾p, Kingfisher 8.9p to 149.7p and Home Retail Group, the owner of Homebase and Argos, was up 11¼p at 224¾p. Next gained 69p to close at £13.24. Tesco rose 17.8p to 333.4p despite TNS sales figures showing that it had lost market share to Asda, Wm Morrison (9½p up at 255½p) and J Sainsbury.

Ernst & Young, Kaupthing’s administrator, used the rally to sell its 1.5 per cent stake in Sainsbury’s at between 305p and 310p. Sainsbury’s ended up 5¾p at 313p. JJB Sports rose 2¼p to 11¼p after Kaupthing’s 29 per cent stake in JJB Sports was sold. Mike Ashley of Sports Direct International was rumoured to be the buyer.

SSL International rose 12p to 449p as Deutsche Bank reiterated “buy” advice, saying that it expected the Durex and Scholl group to announce the acquisition of another 35 per cent stake in BBLV, a Russian condom distributor, in time for what it believes will be a strong trading update on April 15.

New York: Stocks rose on Wall Street, with the market poised for its best month in six years as positive news from European financial institutions lifted bank shares and a broker upgrade for Microsoft helped to lift technology shares. The Dow Jones industrial average closed 86.90 points up at 7,608.92.

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