STOCKS NEWS UK SMALL-Bid talk helps Taylor Wimpey buck mkt fall

STOCKS NEWS Reuters Results diary

Europe [STXNEWS/EU] Real-time Equity News [E] [GB/EQUITY]

UK [STXNEWS/UK] Stocks on the move [HOT-RTRS]

UK smallcaps [STX/UKSC]

12:41GMT 17Nov2008-Bid talk helps Taylor Wimpey buck market weakness

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Shares in Taylor Wimpey (TW.L), the UK's largest housebuilder, rise as much as 13 percent after The Observer newspaper on Sunday reported the company was being circled by potential private equity bidders. [ID:nLG340628]

"The share price has gone up because ... there has been a rumour of a private equity bid for the company," says an analyst.

The speculation helps it outperform building supply peers Wolseley (WOS.L) and Travis Perkins (TPK.L), down 7.3 percent and 6.3 percent respectively, drawn lower by Irish building materials group Kingspan (KSP.I), which earlier predicted a 33 percent drop in full-year operating profits. [ID:nLH490426]

"The Kingspan statement this morning hasn't been helpful to the builders merchants," says MF Global analyst Andrew Gardner.

Reuters messaging rm://ben.deighton.com@reuters.net

12:33GMT 17Nov2008-FTSE Small Cap Index down 0.6 pct midday

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The FTSE Small Cap Index .FTSC falls 0.6 percent in mid-session trade, tracking the trend of the wider UK markets, with the FTSE 100 Index .FTSE down 2.0 percent and FTSE 250 index .FTMC off 1.6 percent.