London stocks down 0.3% despite British Energy's 6% rise

LONDON, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- British Energy top the winning list in the FTSE 100 with a 5.94 percent rise after it agreed to be bought by French firm EDF in a 12.5-billion-pound (about 23.25 billion U.S. dollars) deal by Midday Wednesday.

But the FTSE 100 index was down 15.57 points at 5,120.55, or 0.3 percent down by noon.

Bank shares were helped by news that Warren Buffett had made an investment in Goldman Sachs. Royal Bank of Scotland rose 4.2 percent and HBOS added 3 percent.

Mining firm Vedanta Resources fell 5.7 percent after the company said it had abandoned plans for a restructuring.