London midday: Footsie stabilises at lower level

28th Jan 2011 12:19

London fell sharply in early dealings on the back of weak overseas markets but it has spent most of the day around the 5,920 mark. S&P's decision to cut its credit rating for Japan and some poor company results hurt the Nikkei in Tokyo on Friday and this has spilled over into London.The market is waiting for the US GDP figures. Miners are dragging Footsie lower. Fresnillo, Antofagasta and BHP Billiton are worst affected. A decline in consumer confidence has hurt tour operator TUI Travel with other direct consumer-facing groups also under pressure.There is little big company news to distract attention. Pubs owner and ale brewer Marston's said profitability was in line with expectations in the 16 weeks to 22 January. Its managed pubs division grew like for like (LFL) sales by 2.1%. LFL sales for the six weeks to 8 January were flat.There were also few problems with snow in December for London-based pub owner and brewer Fuller's. Like for like sales in the core Managed Pubs and Hotels business grew by 3.7% over the 10 weeks to 22 January, bringing the like for like sales growth for the 43 weeks to 3.5%.With French bidder Oberthur now firmly dispatched, banknotes and passports printer De La Rue can concentrate on the serious job of running a business, and it remains optimistic after trading in line with expectations since September. The company, which has been fighting off its rival for the past few months and this week rejected a 935p-a-share offer, says full-year volumes at the currency division will be about 6 billion printed banknotes and 10,000 tonnes of banknote paper. "The board remains confident that the group's outlook for the financial year is in line with its previous expectations," it said. The new chief executive will announce the results of the strategic review in May.Chemring is higher after winning a $145m contract for the supply of ammunition to a Middle East customer. Mobile marketing services provider Velti is higher after it set its NASDAQ flotation price at $12 a share. Renewable Energy Generation has turned down a takeover approach that valued the wind farm operator at close to £70m. The company, which also runs an electricity generation plant fuelled by waste vegetable oil, said the approach, received this month, was made up of cash and shares and worth about 67.7p a share. Spread bet firm WorldSpreads will make a loss this year instead of an expected profit after revenues from new countries came in lower than anticipated. WorldSpreads opened offices in France, Germany, Denmark and Sweden in October but marketing lead times have been longer than forecast and market volatility lower.FTSE 100 - Risers Inmarsat (ISAT) 693.50p +4.21%BAE Systems (BA.) 353.70p +1.87%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 267.20p +1.40%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 43.49p +1.07%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,073.50p +1.04%Sage Group (SGE) 297.70p +0.78%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 113.50p +0.62%Aviva (AV.) 455.10p +0.57%BG Group (BG.) 1,400.00p +0.57%GKN (GKN) 212.50p +0.47%FTSE 100 - Fallers Fresnillo (FRES) 1,290.00p -3.52%TUI Travel (TT.) 262.90p -3.31%Essar Energy (ESSR) 527.50p -2.85%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,144.00p -2.47%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,406.00p -2.36%Diageo (DGE) 1,216.00p -2.33%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,412.00p -2.23%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 512.50p -2.10%Aggreko (AGK) 1,475.00p -1.99%Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,327.00p -1.97%FTSE 250 - Risers Centamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 144.40p +6.25%Telecity Group (TCY) 496.50p +4.53%Supergroup (SGP) 1,565.00p +3.57%Hansen Transmissions International NV (DI) (HSN) 55.75p +3.24%SThree (STHR) 398.80p +2.57%Melrose (MRO) 323.30p +2.37%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 434.90p +2.35%COLT Group SA (COLT) 147.40p +2.29%Michael Page International (MPI) 547.00p +2.24%Shanks Group (SKS) 116.70p +2.10%FTSE 250 - Fallers BTG (BGC) 234.60p -3.85%Bellway (BWY) 615.00p -3.61%Debenhams (DEB) 65.50p -3.39%Sports Direct International (SPD) 161.50p -3.29%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 829.50p -3.27%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 93.75p -3.15%Restaurant Group (RTN) 286.20p -3.11%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 408.20p -2.83%IG Group Holdings (IGG) 449.10p -2.75%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 20.57p -2.47%