London close: Higher finish for Footsie as miners march ahead

6th Oct 2010 16:48

It was the surge in US shares yesterday rather than today's nervous performance that provided a lead for Footsie, helping London's top share index close with good gains.A nasty jobs report sent jitters through US markets. Private sector employers cut 39,000 jobs in September, against a gain of 10,000 in August.But the data also stoked more speculation that the Federal Reserve would renew stimulus measures, which is keeping metals prices high.That has boosted demand for miners, especially Antofagasta, Anglo American, Kazakhmys and Xstrata.The mining sector's two leviathans, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, were also wanted, even though doubts persist about their iron ore joint venture. Late last night Rio said it has not made any decision about the $116bn collaborative project in Western Australia. There are reports Rio has killed the deal off after failing to get regulatory approval.Airlines took off after no-frills airline easyJet forecast profits this year will be more than £150m, better than the top of its previous forecast range, after lower volcano ash costs and better demand for European short-haul flights. British Airways, which yesterday said demand was improving enough to justify retrieving two aircrafts from storage in the desert is up in sympathy with easyJet and is the best performing blue-chip today. Supermarket chain Sainsbury's slipped back after reporting a 2% increase in like for like sales excluding fuel for the first half, in line with market expectations. Britain's number three supermarket grew like for like sales, ignoring petrol, by 2.9% in the second quarter. It was 1.2% in the first three months. Tesco managed just 0.3% in the first half, 0.4% for the second quarter and 0.1% for the first.Charles Stanley has downgraded the stock from "accumulate" to "hold". "We think the valuation is now starting to look slightly rich and anticipate a period of share price consolidation," analyst Sam Hart said. The trading update from search software giant Autonomy saw the shares take a tumble. The corporate infrastructure software specialist expects to report record third quarter results, with revenues towards the top end of the guidance range of $206m to $211m. However, the company is taking "a prudent approach to forecasting" full year revenue which it now thinks will be around 3% behind the market consensus expectation. Another blue-chip in the red was package tour operator TUI Travel. UBS has downgraded the stock from "buy" to "neutral" after yesterday's trading update. Midlands-based pub group and brewer Marston's reports improving trends in each of its divisions compared to last year. Earnings before tax and exceptional items in the year to end September are also in line with expectations, the firm added. The brewing arm's turnover and operating profit will be slightly ahead of last year. Punch Taverns, due to update the market next week, move forward in Marston's slipstream.Hungry Britons have been tucking into the bacon rolls sold by Greggs, contributing to continued sales growth for the savoury snacks seller. Total sales for the 39 weeks ended 2 October increased by 2.6%, while like-for-like (LFL) sales grew 0.5%. Sales growth slowed some in the third quarter to 0.2%. "We anticipate that like-for-like sales in the final quarter will be broadly flat and therefore marginally positive over the year as a whole," said chief executive Ken McMeikan. General Electric today confirmed it was behind a 750p a share cash bid for Wellstream, turned down by the oil services group last month. The US conglomerate was responding to press reports that it's preparing to raise its offer to 800p, said to be the level at which Wellstream chairman John Kennedy might start to talk. Broker Westhouse Securities said that "while there is a possibility of further corporate action, the shares had risen from 550p to 767p on expectations of a bid," and now is a good time to get out of the shares.FinnCap, meanwhile, described GE's offer as "disappointing" and is also a seller of the stock, though it does believe the group has strong prospects as an independent entity. "Without a rival offer it is likely that the shares will weaken to around the 750p level," the broker reckons.Unlike the England football team, online sports betting firm Sportingbet had an excellent World Cup, taking in more than £50m of wagers on the tournament. The World Cup bonanza enabled the company to finish its financial year with a flourish. The total amount wagered in the year to 31 July jumped 25% to £1.97bn from £1.58bn the year before.Fast growing homewares retailer Dunelm is finding it hard to match last year's rapid like for like sales growth rate but management was still encouraged by the company's first quarter performance. Total sales in the 13 weeks to 2 October rose 11.6% to £126.7m from £113.6m in the corresponding period of last year. Like for like (LFL) sales growth was 2.1%, a far cry from the 8.0% LFL growth the company achieved over the whole of the last financial year, but Peel Hunt was amazed the company showed any LFL improvement at all given the tough comparatives it was up against. "While early in the financial year, this should begin to raise expectations for full year profit before tax," the broker opined.Shares in Robert Walters jumped after the recruitment firm reported much higher profits across its markets for the third quarter, including areas affected by continuing economic uncertainty. Total gross profits were up by 65% for the period to £42.5m, against £25.8m over the same period the previous year.Shareholders in voltage optimisation product developer VPhase were feeling drained after the share price slumped in the wake of a placing of the company's shares at just 2p. The company raised £2m through the placing which it will use to commercialise its VX1 product.FTSE 100 - RisersMan Group (EMG) 237.70p +4.67%Essar Energy (ESSR) 503.50p +4.59%British Airways (BAY) 266.10p +4.52%Anglo American (AAL) 2,752.00p +4.18%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,483.00p +3.92%Lonmin (LMI) 1,790.00p +3.89%Xstrata (XTA) 1,286.50p +3.75%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 638.00p +3.57%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,926.00p +3.53%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,313.00p +3.47%FTSE 100 - FallersAutonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,551.00p -16.25%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,590.00p -4.45%ARM Holdings (ARM) 389.30p -2.67%Centrica (CNA) 321.80p -1.59%SABMiller (SAB) 1,992.00p -1.41%Sage Group (SGE) 281.50p -1.26%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,873.50p -1.08%Randgold Resources (RRS) 6,585.00p -1.05%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,005.00p -0.89%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,464.00p -0.89%FTSE 250 - RiserseasyJet (EZJ) 433.30p +11.99%Bodycote (BOY) 274.00p +7.28%EnQuest (ENQ) 125.60p +6.26%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 332.70p +5.79%Regus (RGU) 84.70p +5.55%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 427.60p +5.53%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 476.50p +5.33%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 363.10p +5.06%Cookson Group (CKSN) 574.50p +4.74%International Personal Finance (IPF) 281.00p +4.66%FTSE 250 - FallersMicro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 367.90p -3.01%Avis Europe (AVE) 214.00p -2.73%Laird (LRD) 146.20p -2.53%Wellstream Holdings (WSM) 761.00p -2.44%Telecity Group (TCY) 486.00p -2.43%Greggs (GRG) 464.70p -2.17%Aveva Group (AVV) 1,430.00p -2.05%CPP Group (CPP) 250.00p -1.96%De La Rue (DLAR) 643.00p -1.91%Misys (MSY) 289.00p -1.90%