London close: Shares limp higher

29th Mar 2010 17:02

A late recovery helped Footsie return to the blue by trading's close, though all in all it was a fairly directionless day. Vodafone climbed 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 advanced. Xstrata went well on higher metal prices. Meanwhile, Mining giant Rio Tinto has terminated the employment of the four employees who have been found guilty by a Chinese court of taking bribes and stealing business secrets, and described the behaviour of the convicted men as 'deplorable'.'Receiving bribes is a clear violation of Chinese law and Rio Tinto's code of conduct,' said Sam Walsh, chief executive of Rio Tinto Iron Ore. BSkyB was hit by a downgrade from UBS. The broker thinks the share price of the pay TV operator British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) has been buoyed by hopes of a bid from majority shareholder News Corporation, an event which the broker thinks is unlikely to happen.'Although it cannot be ruled out, we would question the timing and rationale for such a move,' UBS said in a note which announced its downgrading of BSkyB from 'buy' to 'neutral'.Banks dragged the index lower with losses for both state-controlled banks, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland. Standard & Poor's said its outlook on the UK's AAA debt rating is still negative due to worries over the country's budget deficit.The ratings agency expects to review the long-term rating and outlook again once the medium-term fiscal policy becomes clearer following the 2010 parliamentary elections, expected on 6 May.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.FTSE 100 - RisersXstrata (XTA) 1,231.50p +3.23%Vodafone Group (VOD) 151.15p +3.03%Lonmin (LMI) 2,105.00p +2.43%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 87.05p +2.23%Man Group (EMG) 247.40p +2.06%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,031.00p +1.98%United Utilities Group (UU.) 562.00p +1.72%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,549.00p +1.57%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,194.00p +1.44%Randgold Resources (RRS) 5,010.00p +1.38%FTSE 100 - FallersWhitbread (WTB) 1,508.00p -2.58%Burberry Group (BRBY) 727.50p -1.95%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 584.00p -1.85%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 44.78p -1.78%Cairn Energy (CNE) 426.80p -1.64%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,446.00p -1.63%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,820.00p -1.41%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 56.00p -1.32%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 63.25p -1.25%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,791.50p -1.24%FTSE 250 - RisersCarphone Warehouse Group (CPW) 155.00p +7.27%Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 439.00p +5.02%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 132.00p +4.35%ITV (ITV) 60.60p +3.24%Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 314.30p +2.68%Drax Group (DRX) 380.80p +2.67%Derwent London (DLN) 1,398.00p +2.64%Robert Wiseman (RWD) 515.00p +2.49%GKN (GKN) 141.10p +2.17%Moneysupermarket.com (MONY) 68.70p +2.08%FTSE 250 - FallersGartmore Group (GRT) 169.00p -3.98%Regus (RGU) 114.00p -3.80%Xchanging (XCH) 191.80p -3.57%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 129.50p -3.00%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 501.00p -2.91%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 125.60p -2.86%COLT Telecom Group S.A. (COLT) 128.50p -2.80%Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 315.30p -2.23%Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,410.00p -2.22%Imagination Technologies (IMG) 233.50p -2.22%