London midday: FTSE 100 climbs as stocks rebound

20th Sep 2011 12:23

Stocks have been steadily moving higher and are now posting strong gains in spite of Standard & Poor's downgrade of Italy. The rise comes after the leading share index suffered triple-digit losses yesterday.In a fresh blow to the debt-stricken area, the ratings agency) downgraded its rating on Italian sovereign debt by one notch on Monday night, citing poor economic growth and a "fragile governing coalition". While still considered investment grade debt, the rating was cut from A+ to A, five levels above junk. S&P has maintained its outlook as negative, a stance it has taken since May.Mining colossus Rio Tinto was in demand after increasing its copper mineral resources at its wholly-owned Kennecott Utah Copper Bingham Canyon Mine in the USA.Iconic British luxury brand Burberry was among the high risers in the opening minutes, making gains a day after its catwalk show at London Fashion Week.Department store group Debenhams rose after saying it expects full-year profits to surpass consensus estimates, after a strong end to the year.Bio degradable plastics firm Symphony Environmental plummeted as gross profits fell from £2.3m to £2.18m.Mobile gaming firm Probability was in demand after bookmaker William Hill said that an offer it would make for the company would be in cash.Russia-focused oil and gas firm PetroNeft Resources fell despite announcing a maiden profit in the first half of 2011.Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at ETX Capital, said markets were acting fairly robustly across most asset classes despite the increasingly negative news flow, suggesting traders "are yet to switch into full risk-off mode". "Within the first hour of trading, equities have moved into the black having started off the day in negative territory, as investors opt for stocks with more defensive qualities - but any rally could be short-lived as the market waits in anticipation for the Federal Reserve to show its hand," he said."While the market is not expecting another round of quantitative easing, if the Fed fails to implement measures to further stimulate the US economy, asset prices could retreat fairly sharply," Ladwa said.Drug developer Oxford Pharmascience is out of favour after losses widened in the first half of 2011.FTSE 100 - RisersHargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 461.10p +4.18%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,494.00p +3.03%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,664.00p +2.59%Xstrata (XTA) 993.80p +2.40%Kingfisher (KGF) 258.50p +2.34%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,910.00p +2.30%Anglo American (AAL) 2,461.50p +2.26%Lonmin (LMI) 1,192.00p +2.23%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,391.00p +2.20%Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) 1,315.00p +2.18%FTSE 100 - FallersInternational Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 149.80p -2.85%Compass Group (CPG) 549.50p -0.63%3i Group (III) 197.20p -0.55%SABMiller (SAB) 2,183.00p -0.32%Investec (INVP) 398.00p -0.28%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 2,533.00p +0.08%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,330.00p +0.15%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 22.93p +0.22%Next (NXT) 2,623.00p +0.23%GKN (GKN) 190.00p +0.37%FTSE 250 - RisersEuromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 606.00p +8.70%Regus (RGU) 78.55p +6.36%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 78.50p +5.02%Genus (GNS) 1,040.00p +4.52%Carpetright (CPR) 523.00p +4.18%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 80.60p +3.67%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 294.20p +3.52%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 401.40p +3.32%Aveva Group (AVV) 1,545.00p +2.93%Ashtead Group (AHT) 137.50p +2.84%FTSE 250 - FallersDaily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) 366.10p -3.15%International Personal Finance (IPF) 217.00p -2.65%Renishaw (RSW) 1,120.00p -2.35%Logica (LOG) 82.15p -1.56%EnQuest (ENQ) 98.75p -1.45%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 374.30p -1.42%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 131.90p -1.35%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 309.90p -1.27%Rank Group (RNK) 133.90p -1.25%easyJet (EZJ) 315.40p -1.19%