London midday: Miners pull Footsie lower, Eurozone in focus

8th May 2012 11:33

- European elections cast a shadow over the market- Miners track metals prices lower- Aviva, Tullow on the risePolitical uncertainty in Europe and falling metals prices meant that London-listed miners were the worst performers of the day by Tuesday lunchtime, pulling the FTSE 100 index firmly into the red.Antonis Samaras from Greece's biggest party, Conservative New Democracy, has failed to form a new government after elections at the weekend. Alexis Tsipras from the left-wing Syriza party is now given the task of crafting a coalition and is expected to reject the tough austerity measures agreed as part of the country's bailout terms. In Spain, the government looks set to inject several billions of euros into the country's third largest lender, Bankia. While many see this as a positive as the nation attempts to return its financial system to health, some are questioning whether this measure by itself will suffice.Meanwhile, France elected anti-austerity Francois Hollande as its new President on Sunday, the country's first Socialist President in nearly two decades. He is looking to renegotiate the 'Fiscal Compact' and is thought to have begun discussions with German leader Angela Merkel. "A growth pact complementary to or merged with the fiscal pact seems very likely," said analysts at Barclays Capital. "Together with the risks associated with the Greek situation and tensions in the Spanish banking sector, a new strategy may also need to include additional steps fostering political and fiscal integration in the euro area and a common approach for bank restructuring and resolution," they said. FTSE 100: Miners provide a dragMining stocks were among the worst performers by midday as they tracked metals prices lower. Vedanta Resources was a heavy faller, losing over 5%, while Polymetal, Randgold, Fresnillo and Xstrata also suffered steep losses.Tullow Oil jumped after it discovered further oil in the first exploration well at one of its Kenyan projects, increasing its potential 'significantly'. Following an announcement in March that the well had encountered in excess of 20m of net oil pay, the well was then deepened from 1,041m to 1,515m and a total pay count greater than 100m has now been discovered. Insurance group Aviva was performing strongly after it announced that its CEO Andrew Moss has quit with immediate effect after the majority of its shareholders last week voted against the remuneration report. Global banking giant HSBC was on the rise after its first-quarter results. Reported pre-tax profit for the quarter was down $0.6bn compared with the first quarter of 2011 to $4.3bn as it was hit by a revaluation of its debt. However, underlying profits were up, driven by Retail Banking and Wealth Management, where profits came in at $2.2bn, significantly higher than in the previous year. Mining group ENRC was bucking the sector trend to trade higher after denying a possible spin-off of its operations outside Kazakhstan. There were press reports over the weekend of ENRC de-merging its interests in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in addition to its coal mines in Mozambique and iron ore operations in Brazil. FTSE 250: Morgan Crucible falls, Chairman to retireIndustrial materials maker Morgan Crucible was falling despite sticking to its full-year expectations. The firm said revenue in the first four months of 2012 at reported rates was marginally below the comparable period last year. The firm later announced that its Chairman Tim Stevenson will retire at the end of July.Exillon Energy saw average production slip in April but shares edged higher after it revealed that its financial performance has been better than expected, with the average selling price of oil ahead of the budgeted level. FTSE 100 - RisersTullow Oil (TLW) 1,532.00p +4.29%Aviva (AV.) 313.00p +3.54%Hammerson (HMSO) 421.60p +2.58%British Land Co (BLND) 504.00p +2.25%Tesco (TSCO) 325.50p +1.97%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 106.00p +1.83%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 323.00p +1.57%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 278.90p +1.34%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 627.50p +1.29%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,675.00p +1.27%FTSE 100 - FallersVedanta Resources (VED) 1,066.00p -4.99%Man Group (EMG) 84.95p -4.28%Polymetal International (POLY) 852.50p -3.45%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,056.00p -3.12%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,968.00p -2.97%Schroders (SDR) 1,346.00p -2.96%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,462.00p -2.92%Wolseley (WOS) 2,234.00p -2.87%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 31.71p -2.77%Xstrata (XTA) 1,101.00p -2.70%FTSE 250 - RisersInvensys (ISYS) 220.10p +8.58%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 74.00p +4.23%Exillon Energy (EXI) 126.50p +2.85%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 161.20p +2.68%Derwent London (DLN) 1,775.00p +2.42%Shaftesbury (SHB) 525.00p +2.24%SEGRO (SGRO) 219.70p +1.95%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 307.10p +1.82%FirstGroup (FGP) 197.80p +1.70%WH Smith (SMWH) 526.50p +1.64%FTSE 250 - FallersHome Retail Group (HOME) 75.60p -6.95%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 44.84p -5.98%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 575.00p -5.89%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 117.10p -5.79%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 363.80p -5.43%Bumi (BUMI) 500.00p -4.85%Spirit Pub Company (SPRT) 55.50p -4.72%Salamander Energy (SMDR) 183.90p -4.52%Renishaw (RSW) 1,362.00p -4.35%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 260.60p -4.30%BC