Rexam (Dusseldorf: 948922.DU - news) ticked higher as the maker of drinks cans put its personal care business up for sale, but the benchmark index retreated amid scepticism over the Greek bailout.

Rexam, which makes Red Bull and PepsiCo (Euronext: PEP.NX - news) cans as well as packaging for food, healthcare and cosmetic products, said it had decided to hive off the undperforming personal care unit as it did not expect a turnaround in the near term. The unit has been hit by rising costs and lower volumes.

While Rexam did not put a price tag on the unit, or give a timeframe for its sale, analysts have said the business could fetch up to £350m.

Rexam leapt 7.4pc, but the blue-chips as a whole were on the wane as investors speculated that yesterday's bailout deal for Greece has merely averted a messy default in the short term, rather than put an end to the eurozone debt saga.

Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the Greek bailout was "more of a reprieve rather than a rescue ... it does not necessarily solve the long-term problem.

"Probably, the biggest question that has remained unanswered coming out of it is the implications for other nations."

Volumes on the FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) were thin, highlighting concerns among investors about injecting cash into the market when fears about longer-term issues over Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURUSD - news) 's debt situation remained, and the index fell 11.65 points to 5,916.55.

Leading the laggards was Vedanta Resources (EUREX: VR9F.EX - news) as the miner succumbed to profit-taking, falling 5.02pc.

Supermarket giant, Tesco (LSE: TSCO.L - news) , came under pressure, easing 2.3pc as Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER - news) switched its rating to "underperform".

"Tesco has format and brand/offer issues in the UK that will take time to fix; and international performance remains mixed," said analysts.

Further down the market, Cove Energy (Berlin: LPC.BE - news) soared 25.6pc as Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) - up 0.5pc - made a £992.4m bid for the explorer. Shell has offered 195p-per-share in cash, which Cove's directors said they would recommend to shareholders.

"The 195p proposed offer is unlikely to face a challenge in our view and, having been longstanding fans of the Cove story, we downgrade to Hold," said analysts at Investec (Frankfurt: A0J32R - news) .

"There may be more bids in E&P-land. In terms of laterals, we expect further acquisitions and highlight Ophir and Gulf Keystone (LSE: GKP.L - news) as the two most likely bid targets in our view," they added.

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FTSE 100: Rexam rises as puts personal care business up for sale