GRAHAM Wylie, founder of software group Sage, did his fellow investors no favours by dumping 5pc of the entire share capital in a single placing through Deutsche Bank.

Wylie, whose stake was once valued at more than 1bn, retired in April at the age of just 42. He raised a thumping 116m from the disposal at 1781/2p the bulk of his stake in the Newcastle financial software group. Sage closed 81/4p down at 1741/2.

Wylie had helped to found Sage in 1981 while still a student and wrote its first software.

It is just six months since Sage promised that Wylie would not dump his shares ‘within the foreseeable future’. He sold 7m worth in March, just before a critical research note. He faced an investigation by the Financial Services Authority, but was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Overnight trading in America and most of Asia set a positive tone for the market overall and the Footsie kicked off in the black. But the market drifted in thin trade and after Wall Street opened down, London closed at 4352.3, up just 4.8 points. Sterling eased to $1.6740, but rose slightly to 69.75p in euro terms.

Are the clouds gathering over conservatories?

Merrill Lynch thinks so. Dropping its buy recommendation on manufacturer Ultraframe (2571/2p, down 101/2p), the broker fears the summer’s downturn was more than a blip. It sees the sales growth rate halving from the 10pc over the past two decades. ‘In this regard, conservatories may well have gone “ex-growth”,’ it warns.

The weak dollar will hit US profits. Merrill rates Ultraframe overvalued.

National Grid Transco slipped towards a five-year low after a broker argued that the summer’s power blackouts have dimmed any hopes of a much fatter dividend.

NGT is on course to pay out just 18.5p per share from a forecast 33.4p of earnings this year. Investors want more and in July chief executive Roger Urwin hinted that he would signal faster rises with the first-half results next month.

The group now faces an inquiry over the blackouts and it has admitted to maintenance errors that at least contributed to one. Analysts at UBS Warburg note that the inquiry will overhang the company.

They warn: ‘Recent public attention might make it politically impossible for NGT to raise its dividend sharply.’ NGT fell 11/2p to 378p, yielding 4.9pc.

People on the Atkins diet have cut down on carbohydrates, but manufacturer Tate Lyle was in demand following betterthanexpected figures from a US rival. It ended 51/4p higher at 3171/2p and some hope that a bidder might be attracted by its sweet 6pc yield.

Talk that top US stockbroker Merrill Lynch is eyeing a bid for Man Group sent the hedge fund manager rising another 7p to 1459p. Man and Merrill declined to comment.

British Airways jumped 11p to 197p following the weekend’s bullish call in Wall Street’s investment bible Barron’s, which sees BA rising by up to 20pc over 18 months as cost-cutting and economic recovery feed through. Ryanair, also tipped in the magazine, rose 71/ 2p to 472p.

Cable Wireless rose 51/4p to 1361/4p on hopes that it will announce an exit from its lossmaking US businesses next month more quickly than expected.

Niche computer maker Concurrent Technologies crashed 5p to 24p after warning on profits due to component supply problems.

Randgold Resources slumped 321/2p to 13271/2p after chief executive Mark Bristow upped the stakes in his bid battle with AngloGold for Ghanaian miner Ashanti. He promises a ‘significantly improved’ offer.

Reports suggest that Randgold could raise its offer by as much as 14pc to 1bn.

Some neo-Czarist sabre-rattling from the Russian government left Shell investors unimpressed. Natural resources minister Vitali Artiukhov again warned that the group could lose its operating licence there because it has allegedly been too slow to invest in its sites in Siberia. He has launched an investigation. Shell fell 1p to 390p. BP, also heavily exposed to Russia, fell 51/4p to 4211/ 4p.

HAVE your kids demanded tropical fish yet?

Disney’s animated film Finding Nemo is sparking a mini craze ahead of Christmas. Ironically the movie is about rescuing Nemo an orange and white clownfish from captivity. Cranswick (4241/2p, up 31/2p), owner of Europe’s biggest tropical fish hatchery, reports a surge in demand. Sales of clownfish have soared 60pc since the film opened three weeks ago. Shame the craze will not last as Cranswick could have made money on replacements. Most tropical saltwater fish die quickly in captivity.