London midday: Footsie up 0.5% as miners rise

16th Dec 2011 11:47

The Footsie extended gains by midday, with miners leading the advance, despite some gloomy comments by leaders in the Eurozone. The blue chip index was trading just 27 points higher by lunchtime, up 0.5% at 5,427, while bourses in Europe edged lower.EUROZONE WORRIES CONTINUE France may have entered a recession this quarter which will last until the end of the first quarter next year and will complicate achieving its 1% growth target for 2012, according to the country's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE). Rumours are flying in the market of a possible Standard & Poor's downgrade for Italy and Spain today, although France will maintain its triple A rating, according to RANsquawk. However, the agency with over 15,000 "market listeners" emphasises that this is just unsubstantiated "market talk". Nonetheless, both Spain and Italy fill the headlines today. The UK will be included in technical discussions on re-shaping the Eurozone after the President of The European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, called the British Prime Minister David Cameron last night. According to the well-respected Press Association Mr Van Rompuy and Mr Cameron agreed that British officials would attend EU meetings to be held over the coming months to flesh out the agreement that Mr Cameron vetoed last Friday. Elsewhere, markets await a key confidence vote in Italy for Prime Minister Mario Monti to approve a €30bn emergency budget plan.In other news, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund has said that the world is facing similar threats seen in the Depression: "economic retraction, rising protectionism, isolation and...what happened in the 30s," said Christine Lagarde. "There is no economy in the world, whether low-income countries, emerging markets, middle-income countries or super-advanced economies that will be immune to the crisis that we see not only unfolding but escalating," she said in a speech in Washington. MINERS KEEP FOOTSIE IN THE BLUEThe miners dominated the risers list at midday with Antofagasta leading the way, rising over 3%. Sector peers Kazakhmys, Rio Tinto, Xstrata, Fresnillo, Lonmin and BHP Billiton were also making stong gains. Speculation that the People's Bank of China could cut banks' reserve ratios this evening may be behind the strength in miners, according to some analysts.Banks were also in demand despite Fitch Ratings downgrading several ratings across the whole sector due to the growing risks for financial markets arising from both economic developments as well as a "myriad of regulatory changes". Barclays, one of the banks whose rating was cut by two notches (from A to AA-), was rising despite the news. The credit ratings agency raised Barclays' outlook from negative to stable.Other banks affected by the mass downgrade include Credit Suisse, Bank of America and BNP Paribas.Essar Energy led the falls on the top share index; some investors may be disappointed by the fact that the Reserve Bank of India kept its policy rates unchanged today, which may be behind the weakness seen in the rupee.Utilities giant International Power fell after announcing that its Chief Financial Officer Mark Williamson is to step down from the board at the next annual general meeting in May in order to take up a position in GDF SUEZ.BP fell into the red despite receiving a $250m settlement from Cameron International Corporation, the company which designed and manufactured the Deepwater Horizon 'blowout preventer', in relation to claims arising from last year's oil disaster. National Grid nudged higher after announcing that $240m in deferred charges and storm compensation is coming its way. Shareholders didn't seem to notice that the electricity and gas company has lost the contract to operate the Long Island Electricity system which it has managed for 13 years. On the FTSE 250, Sports Direct was the high riser after withdrawing its offer for Blacks Leisure. Blacks, which put itself up for sale on 7 December, plummeted on the news. It's been reported that Blacks needs to refinance a £40m overdraft facility by February with the FT claiming the firm needs £20m in fresh equity to renovate its stores. BCFTSE 100 - RisersAntofagasta (ANTO) 1,170.00p +3.54%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 876.50p +3.48%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,113.00p +2.77%Xstrata (XTA) 974.00p +2.74%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 20.15p +2.60%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,550.00p +2.51%Old Mutual (OML) 126.50p +2.26%ICAP (IAP) 336.60p +2.15%Lonmin (LMI) 972.00p +2.05%Capita Group (CPI) 624.00p +2.04%FTSE 100 - FallersEssar Energy (ESSR) 185.30p -4.34%Man Group (EMG) 130.50p -2.25%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 712.00p -1.79%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 294.80p -1.60%International Power (IPR) 321.70p -1.53%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 429.30p -1.29%Hammerson (HMSO) 351.90p -0.73%SSE (SSE) 1,256.00p -0.71%Reed Elsevier (REL) 503.50p -0.69%BP (BP.) 445.00p -0.64%FTSE 250 - RisersSports Direct International (SPD) 203.50p +7.11%Centamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 89.00p +5.01%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 550.50p +4.96%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 159.60p +4.18%Redrow (RDW) 115.60p +3.86%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 400.40p +3.68%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 456.70p +3.63%Ashtead Group (AHT) 205.50p +3.06%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 261.70p +3.03%Mothercare (MTC) 167.60p +2.95%FTSE 250 - FallersExillon Energy (EXI) 227.70p -4.73%Regus (RGU) 80.10p -3.49%F&C Commercial Property Trust Ltd. (FCPT) 100.50p -3.37%Shanks Group (SKS) 98.25p -3.20%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 63.20p -3.14%Grainger (GRI) 100.30p -3.09%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 965.50p -2.67%Rank Group (RNK) 126.00p -2.55%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 172.50p -2.54%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 16.44p -2.49%