added products. Also on the downside, shares in food retailer J Sainsbury sagged slightly, unwinding a late gain on Wednesday when persistent talk of a merger with French rival Carrefour boosted the shares, dealers said. Britain's third-largest supermarket group also said it had made encouraging progress on a turnaround plan as first-quarter same-store sales, excluding fuel, rose by 1.3 percent. In other results news, building materials firm Hanson firmed 1.1 percent, boosted by news that strong demand in the United States would help to lift operating profit by around 20 percent. Among mid-caps, shares in Cambridge Antibody Technology rallied 1.9 percent after the biotechnology firm said it was encouraged by early clinical trials of CAT-354, an antibody it is studying as a potential treatment for severe asthma. --SP 1226 Local Time 0926 GMT
