UK recruitment group Michael Page has fallen 21p to 314p after it again rejected a £1.3bn offer from Swiss rival Adecco.
Adecco said it was still keen on a combination with Page, but analysts are not convinced it will want to raise its 400p a share bid.
Panmure Gordon said: "We believe it would be difficult for Adecco to improve this offer and justify it to its own shareholders. There is likely to be short term speculation as to whether Adecco will turn its attention to Hays or Robert Walters. We would not bank on this given that Adecco appeared to be most interested in Michael Page's brand, exposure to permanent recruitment and specialist model."
Analyst Jonathan Jackson at Killik Capital made a similar point: "Given the shares were trading below 250p only five weeks ago, the decision by management to reject a 400p cash offer is very brave. Either they are very upbeat on the outlook for trading or are confident that Adecco will return to the table. Our concern is that Adecco may shy away from making a higher offer which may struggle to generate a satisfactory return and face shareholder opposition at this stage in the cycle."
Elsewhere the FTSE 100 has fallen back 45.3 points to 5452.1 as the continuing fall in mining companies weighs on the index.
