Ophir descends on deepwater doubts Ophir Energy slipped to an 18-month low as doubts about the deepwater oil explorer's acreage led investors to shun the stock. Africa-focused Ophir lost a further 7.6 per cent to 305p in the wake of results last week, where management scaled back estimates for its key prospects off Tanzania and Gabon. The company also pushed back its drilling schedule and gave no news on its attempts share risk and costs by bringing in partners. "The lack of concrete farm-out news is beginning to raise questions about industry interest and/or valuations in comparison with that ascribed by the market," said Canaccord Genuity. Management's record of over-promising has also been weighing on the stock, analysts said. UBS noted that, last October, Ophir promised nine exploration wells in 2013 yet all had been delayed and none had broken ground. The delayed drilling will help reduce cash burn but, without farm outs, Ophir's cash will run out in late 2014, Canaccord said. Drilling six wells alone in the next 16 months may also spread Ophir's staff too thinly, it said. Miners weighed on the wider market, leading the FTSE 100 down 34.26 points at 6,465.73, a fall of 0.5 per cent. Anglo American led the fallers, down 3.6 per cent to £14.93 in tandem with metals prices. Glencore lost 2.1 per cent to 302p a day ahead of results, where the group was expected to write down the value of mines bought from Xstrata by as much as $7bn. The value of nickel, coal and non-approved copper projects were all likely to be written down, said Exane BNP Paribas. SSE took on 0.8 per cent to £15.58 on an upgrade to "neutral" from HSBC. UK energy market reform had provided investors with greater clarity for SSE's electricity generation business, it said. Chip designer Arm Holdings rose 2.2 per cent to 889p following an upbeat roadshow for Scandinavian investors last week. Kentz jumped 24.2 per cent to 591p after the oil services group confirmed it had rejected bid approaches from Amec and M&W Group. Amec was the higher bidder with an indicated cash offer of between 565p and 580p. Oriel Securities said Amec's offer for Kentz was pitched at just 12 times 2013 earnings once its £161m cash pile was excluded. "These offers should set a new floor for Kentz's and we would not rule out another offer," the broker said. We believe a more realistic bid price would be 715p based on a sector average multiple of 13 times 2013 earnings, adjusted for Kentz's net cash. The Kentz approach helped underpin the oil services sector with Petrofac up 1.4 per cent to £12.62 and Wood Group 2.3 per cent higher at 903p. Amec, which had already flagged that it was looking for acquisitions, edged 0.1 per cent higher to £10.85 as analysts at Credit Suisse played down the chances of it entering a bidding war. Bike retailer Halfords gained 3.5 per cent to 369.6p, having late last week set new targets for management's bonus plan. JPMorgan Cazenove said the top-of-the-range target would imply a 15 per cent upgrade to its 2016 operating earnings forecasts, "highlighting the extent of the potential opportunities that the management sees as being available to the group." Sports Direct edged 0.9 per cent higher at 640.5p amid expectations that it will be promoted to the FTSE 100 in next month's index review. Coca-Cola HBC , down 1.5 per cent to £17.47, was the other likely candidate for promotion to the blue-chips, dealers said, with relegation likely for ENRC , down 0.9 per cent to 230.5p, and Serco , 1.4 per cent higher at 615.5p. BWin rose 3.9 per cent to 134.1p ahead of half-year results next week, where shareholders believe the bookmaker will outline plans to spin off its unregulated operations into a separate company Slim volume lifted Rightmove from a three-week low, up 4.4 per cent to £23.64, helped by a Westhouse upgrade to "add." With results due on Wednesday, Hochschild Mining slipped 4.5 per cent to 232.9p. JPMorgan saw a risk that the gold miner would cut its interim dividend to save cash ahead of a $115m convertible bond maturing next year.