Stockwatch

The threat of tropical storm Wilma weighed down on Lloyd's this week, causing stockbroker Bridgewell to highlight its concerns on the sector.

"A tropical storm developing in the Gulf of Mexico could become the twenty-first named storm of the season, and there are still six weeks to go in the season," it said.

"We would advise a cautious approach to the sector for the next few weeks, while highlighting Catlin Group as our favoured play in the sector."

As Insurance Times went to press, Catlin was trading at around 463.5p.

Outsourcing group Capita held steady at the 380p level as Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock from 'hold' to 'buy', and raised its target price from 390p to 450p.

It explained: "Our analysis suggests that Capita's organic growth potential remains very healthy, and that a hefty increase in the bid pipeline over the past 12 months should ultimately yield some sizeable contract gains."

Meanwhile, there was a bit of a buzz surrounding Benfield Group and Jardine Lloyd Thompson as rumours of a merger returned. Benfield is trading at around 306p a share.

' Yvette Essen is stock market reporter and insurance correspondent for The Daily Telegraph