London midday: Leading shares ease back

15th Jan 2010 12:28

Leading shares are mixed, with the FTSE 100 dipping into negative territory after JP Morgan issued a mixed set of figures. The US banking titan's bottom line was healthier than expected, with fourth quarter earnings per share of 74 cents versus expectations of 60 cents, but net revenues of $25.2bn were below that seen in previous quarters.Miners are weighing down the blue-chip index, as a stronger dollar hits metals prices. Vedanta and Kazakhmys are the worst performers. Iron ore producer Ferrexpo is going well, however. The Ukraine-focused company saved the best for last in 2009, with output in the fourth quarter being the best of the year.Reaction to Man Group's update was negative, however. The stock is sharply lower after the hedge fund manager suffered a 4% drop in funds under management during the third quarter, mainly due to the $1.2bn pulled out of its flagship AHL fund. Funds under Management (FUM) at 31 December slipped to $42.4bn from $44bn at the end of September, traditionally a quiet period for sales.Latin America was once again a bright spot for credit checking firm Experian, which saw underlying organic revenue growth of 1% in the last three months of 2009, but the group remains cautious on the outlook for the UK. FT publisher Pearson has confirmed it is looking at possible options for its Interactive Data subsidiary, including the sale of its 61% stake. Its interest in the New York-listed provider of financial market data, analytics and related solutions, currently valued at $2.4bn, is worth about $1.5bn.Daily Mail is higher after UBS upgraded it to 'buy' from 'neutral', saying, 'DMGT is our preferred newspaper play given its exposure to B2B (c70% of profits), and attractive valuation,' the broker saidDefence technology group QinetiQis in the doghouse after it warned that the seasonally stronger second half will not happen this year due to a delay in orders from governments in both Britain and the US.Housebuilder Bovis ended last year with cash in hand and has now started to buy land again after house sales last year rose by 25% and average prices increased by 2.5%. A pick-up in demand in the final two months of the year should ensure that sales for 2009 were similar to 2008 levels at instrumentation and controls company Spectris.Lamprell the specialist engineer focused on the oil and gas industry, said it has received final payment from BassDrill in relation to the delivery of the tender barge BassDrill Alpha.Restaurant chain Prezzo expects full year results to 27 December 2009 to come in ahead of market expectations, following stronger trading in the second-half of the year. Christmas brought a little bit of cheer for Magners cider group C&C, with December sales recovering after a weak November and profits to end-February still expected to come in at the top end of guidance.FTSE 100 - RisersInternational Power (IPR) 325.10p +5.07%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 37.37p +3.81%Aviva (AV.) 424.40p +2.34%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 585.50p +2.27%Burberry Group (BRBY) 593.50p +2.15%FTSE 100 - FallersMan Group (EMG) 296.70p -5.63%Home Retail Group (HOME) 259.20p -2.48%Next (NXT) 1,966.00p -2.09%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 638.00p -1.92%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,722.00p -1.87%