London afternoon: Into the red

29th Mar 2010 14:23

All of Footsie's early gains have now been pulled back despite futures pointing to a decent start on Wall Street. Banks are dragging the index lower with losses now for both state-controlled banks, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland. Vodafone is higher on reports over the weekend it is in talks about resolving the future of its US mobile phone joint venture, Verizon Wireless. Several options are being discussed including a full merger of the two companies or dividends Miners are now mixed. Xstrata is going well on higher metal prices. Rio Tinto, meanwhile, has distanced itself from executive Stern Hu, who was sentenced to 12 years in jail in China on charges of bribery and commercial espionage. Reports said Mr Hu apologised to the court and to Rio, saying he took more than $900,000. Three other Rio employees also received heavy sentences.In economic news, the number of mortgages approved by banks fell to a nine-month low in February, reinforcing the impression that the strong recovery seen in the housing market last year has abated. The total number of mortgages approved fell to 47,094 from 48,099 in January, below expectations of 48,000.Sports Direct confirmed it is 'seriously considering a material increase in the level of its indicative bid' for Blacks Leisure and accused its potential target of breaching the takeover code as the battle turns increasingly acrimonious.ITV is one of the best performers on talk that regulator Ofcom will relax the rules on advertising for the terrestrial commercial channels because of the explosion of new digital channels. The demerger of TalkTalk Telecom from Carphone Warehouse has become effective, with trading in TalkTalk and the new incarnation of Carphone Warehouse starting on Monday morning.Care home operator Southern Cross has been hit by lower than anticipated average occupancy and local authority fee settlements. Southern Cross had budgeted for a 2% local authority fee increase, but this will now be about 1%, though cost cuts will offset some of the shortfall. Private fee increases were 3.7%. Infrastructure contractor Balfour Beatty has won contracts worth a combined £200m from the Highways Agency, Yorkshire Water and Anglian Water, plus a £250m contract from the North East Lincolnshire Council.Shares in South Atlantic oil explorer Desire Petroleum collapsed on a disappointing first drill result in the waters around the Falkland Islands.Investment firm 3i Infrastructure said the market environment for infrastructure investment is improving and added that its portfolio is performing well and continues to deliver a good yield. The group invested £73.3m in the period from 1 April 2009 to 29 March 2010 and realised £25m. The company had cash balances of £310.6m at 29 March and no borrowings. Cameroon-focused oil explorer Bowleven has its first two wells prepared and ready to drill as part of an extensive exploration of its acreage over the next 12-18 months. Cancer specialist Antisoma put a late-stage trial of its lung cancer drug ASA404 on halt after test results showed that there was little or no prospect of demonstrating a survival benefit. Antisoma licensed the worldwide rights to the drug to Swiss pharma giant Novartis in April 2007.