London midday: FTSE 100 turns lower

14th Feb 2011 12:13

The top share index is slightly under pressure now though there is some excitement among oil-related stocks in the mid-cap index. Shares in John Wood have roared ahead after the oilfield services group said it is returning money to shareholders, and is to pay out $1.7bn after it agreed to sell its Well Support division to US giant GE for $2.8bn cash.Exillon Energy, the oil producer with assets in northern Russia and West Siberia, is in demand after it announced an upgrade to its estimated reserves. The estimate of the group's proved (1P) reserves has increased by 40% to 112m barrels, while proved plus probable (2P) reserves are estimated to be 74% higher.Engine maker Rolls-Royce has won a $2.2bn (£1.4bn) contract with Emirates to look after its Trent engines on 70 of the airline's new Airbus A350XWB aircraft. Trading systems developer Fidessa is to pay a special dividend again this year, this time topping last year's 40p payment with a 45p per share pay out, after revenue and adjusted profit before tax both grew 10% in 2010. Cable & Wireless Communications has been downgraded by UBS to "sell" from "neutral."National Express has denied weekend reports that hedge fund Elliott wants the bus and train group to put itself up for sale or to merge with Stagecoach or SNCF of France.Recruiter Harvey Nash's trading in the second half has been strong and results this year will be ahead of market expectations. Total revenue for the year to January will be £425m, gross profit of £68m and profit before tax of circa £6m, up 46% on the previous comparable year.LED lighting developer Dialight doubled profits in 2010 - "a very satisfactory performance" - following progress in ultra efficient lighting and signalling. The group, which said last month that full-year results would beat expectations, posted a profit before tax of £11.3m, up from £5.3m in 2009. Revenue jumped 28% to £99.2m.Plant hire specialist Speedy Hire has moved ahead after it said sales were up by 8.8% in the three months to 31 December despite the bad weather towards the end of the period. The company pointed out that the strong growth came in spite of the 3.3% contraction in the construction sector during the quarter. FTSE 100 - RisersWeir Group (WEIR) 1,757.00p +3.66%Invensys (ISYS) 351.60p +3.14%Essar Energy (ESSR) 522.50p +2.45%ARM Holdings (ARM) 624.50p +2.21%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 526.50p +2.03%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,559.00p +1.43%Aggreko (AGK) 1,538.00p +1.18%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,188.00p +1.02%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,384.00p +0.97%BG Group (BG.) 1,535.50p +0.75%FTSE 100 - FallersInternational Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 243.80p -2.09%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,091.00p -1.58%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 268.70p -1.58%Schroders (SDR) 1,774.00p -1.55%Centrica (CNA) 339.30p -1.54%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 65.90p -1.41%Reed Elsevier (REL) 582.50p -1.35%Pearson (PSON) 1,051.00p -1.22%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,539.00p -1.22%Standard Life (SL.) 237.10p -1.21%FTSE 250 - RisersJohn Wood Group (WG.) 648.50p +13.28%Exillon Energy (EXI) 374.00p +9.84%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,932.00p +4.90%JPMorgan Indian Inv Trust (JII) 424.40p +3.46%SVG Capital (SVI) 255.00p +3.07%PartyGaming (PRTY) 179.60p +2.92%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 584.50p +2.54%Regus (RGU) 107.60p +2.28%Devro (DVO) 233.10p +2.24%Mcbride (MCB) 141.50p +2.09%FTSE 250 - FallersOcado Group (OCDO) 245.20p -3.84%Centamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 144.20p -3.22%Bellway (BWY) 659.00p -2.30%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 1,665.00p -2.06%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 104.80p -1.96%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 597.50p -1.89%Meggitt (MGGT) 360.20p -1.85%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 343.10p -1.83%easyJet (EZJ) 378.40p -1.71%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 442.50p -1.67%