London midday: Footsie stuck in the red

14th Sep 2009 12:32

Miners continue to weigh on the leading share index.ENRC and Kazakhmys are lower. Reports over the weekend suggested some commentators are concerned by the amount of speculative money that is flowing into the sector. Cooper prices have fallen for the fourth day in a row.Platinum refiner Johnson Matthey is struggling after Morgan Stanley downgraded the firm to 'equal-weight' from 'overweight'.Rio is also lower though the Brazilian National Defence Council has approved the sale of Rio Tinto's Corumbá iron ore mine in Brazil to Vale for $750m. Ferrochrome producer International Ferrochrome slips after saying it slid into a second half net deficit of R341m as a slump in demand and prices prompted severe production cutbacks. The cut back in production caused sales to fall from 207,862 tonnes last year to 101,835 tonnes this year, with a consequential deterioration in economies of scale, the firm said.Elsewhere, Cadbury is one of the top risers on its strong words against the attempted takeover by US firm Kraft. Rumours of either a higher bid or interest from Hershey continue to support the shares.Insurers are going well after Resolution told the Times it could buy a general insurer as well as a life group. Admiral is up in sympathy.The decision to allow product placement in TV programmes has given ITV a boost, with the Telegaph suggesting it could be worth millions to the firm.Kentz has had a 'strong' first half during which profit jumped 10% to more than $1bn as the engineering group focused on oil and gas, petrochemicals and energy in developing regions. Profit before tax for the six months ending 30 June 2009 rose to $18.5m from $16.8m a year earlier on revenue little changed at $328.9m.Construction and regeneration group Morgan Sindall has won a £38m private/public partnership (PPP) scheme contract to build Basildon Sporting Village, a state of the art leisure complex. Energy meter provider Bglobal has won a contract to provide the UK retail arm of Russian energy company Gazprom with smart metering services.FTSE 100 - RisersCobham (COB) 212.00p +1.97%BAE Systems (BA.) 338.60p +1.87%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 373.80p +1.03%Unilever (ULVR) 1,635.00p +0.86%G4S (GFS) 225.00p +0.85%Pearson (PSON) 743.00p +0.75%National Grid (NG.) 615.50p +0.74%Home Retail Group (HOME) 294.90p +0.65%Cadbury (CBRY) 780.50p +0.64%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,219.00p +0.58%FTSE 100 - FallersJohnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,390.00p -3.94%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,866.00p -3.42%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,391.00p -3.34%Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 841.50p -3.28%3i Group (III) 298.20p -2.87%Fresnillo (FRES) 715.00p -2.79%Cairn Energy (CNE) 2,698.00p -2.67%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,067.00p -2.65%BG Group (BG.) 1,105.00p -2.64%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,068.00p -2.55%FTSE 250 - RisersIMI (IMI) 472.80p +3.87%Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 467.80p +2.79%Catlin Group (CGL) 340.50p +2.31%Synergy Healthcare (SYR) 578.00p +2.21%TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 163.80p +1.80%Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 360.70p +1.61%Genus (GNS) 673.00p +1.51%Restaurant Group (RTN) 200.40p +1.47%Dignity (DTY) 610.50p +1.41%De La Rue (DLAR) 891.00p +1.25%FTSE 250 - FallersNovae Group (NVA) 333.00p -6.59%Punch Taverns (PUB) 129.90p -5.80%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 287.20p -5.50%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 163.00p -5.23%Yell Group (YELL) 69.25p -5.20%JD Wetherspoon (JDW) 488.40p -5.17%CSR (CSR) 483.00p -4.92%Wellstream Holdings (WSM) 613.50p -4.88%Ashtead Group (AHT) 90.80p -4.42%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 288.60p -4.31%