London midday: Reassuringly dull morning session

23rd Nov 2011 12:01

It has been a comfortingly dull morning session in London after all the excitement of recent weeks, though there is no sign of Footsie bringing an end to its losing streak, though its cause is not helped by the index constituents Man, Next and Standard Life trading in ex-dividend form. MINERS HEADING LOWERDisappointing data from China, which showed factory activity levels dropping to their lowest in 32 months, has prompted selling pressure on mining stocks. The HSBC flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI), measuring industrial activity in China, fell to 48 this month, from 51 in October. A measure below 50 indicates contraction, but market consensus was expecting a figure close to 50.1.According to Hongbin Qu, chief China and Asia economist at HSBC, "The dipping headline manufacturing PMI implies that industrial production growth is likely to slow further, to 11-12% year on year in the coming months, as domestic demand cools and external demand is set to weaken despite the still resilient new export orders."Rio Tinto is one of the bigger fallers in the sector, despite receiving the all-clear from the Canadian Competition Bureau for its offer to purchase uranium developer Hathor Exploration for £402m.Anglo American declines in line with the mining sector overall, buoyed by news that it has completed the first copper production from the huge expansion project at its Los Bronces mine in central Chile.COMPASS POINTING SOUTHContract caterer Compass saw its underlying profits before tax burst through the billion pounds barrier for the full year ended 30 September. The firm achieved a 10.6% increase in underlying profit from £922m to £1.02bn (reported profit before tax: £958m from £913m). Revenue rose 9.4% from £14.47bn to £15.83bn. Broker Seymour Pierce said the numbers were in line with expectations but the shares head south nevertheless.Chemicals firm Johnson Matthey is a bright spot after estimate-beating first-half earnings helped it to hike it dividend.Water group United Utilities is lower after first-half underlying profits fell from £195m to £185m.Scottish engineer Weir is off the pace after announcing it is to open the wallet and pay $675m for the US well-head specialist Seaboard.FTSE 250: THOMAS COOK CLAWS BACK, JD SEES SLOWDOWNThomas Cook bounces back from its precipitous decline yesterday as bargain hunters move in. The shares crashed on Tuesday after the package tour firm said it is in talks with its banks about borrowing more money. Sector peer TUI Travel, which took collateral damage from Thomas Cook's announcement yesterday, is also on the mend.Shares of defence markets researcher and technology firm QinetiQ raced ahead after it reported a return to net profit for the half year and said expectations for the current year have increased by around 20%. The group posted a net profit of £66.6m for the six months to 30 September compared to a net loss of £42.1m the same time a year earlier. Revenue fell to £739.6m from £864.9m.High street sports retailer JD Sports Fashion has seen the rate of growth of like-for-like (LFL) sales slow down in the sixteen weeks ended 19 November due to the ongoing troubles facing the everyday consumer. Since the end of the first half, LFL sales grew by just 0.2% from the same period last year, well under the 3.3% LFL sales growth reported in the first seven weeks of the period. Pub group Mitchells & Butlers is steady after its largest shareholder, Piedmont, has not ruled out launching a fresh takeover offer for the company despite ongoing concerns about its business, according to the Financial Times.Oil and gas firm Premier Oil said it has abandoned a well off the coast of Norway and would now move its focus onto UK waters.FTSE 100 - RisersAdmiral Group (ADM) 869.00p +2.54%Glencore International (GLEN) 379.85p +2.39%Smiths Group (SMIN) 888.00p +2.13%Inmarsat (ISAT) 398.20p +1.74%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 133.80p +1.36%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,361.50p +1.34%Centrica (CNA) 292.90p +1.24%Aviva (AV.) 283.90p +1.21%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,790.00p +1.13%British Land Co (BLND) 466.00p +1.08%FTSE 100 - FallersMan Group (EMG) 130.00p -5.39%Meggitt (MGGT) 361.20p -2.98%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 311.70p -2.90%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,707.00p -1.95%Capita Group (CPI) 620.00p -1.82%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 441.60p -1.76%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 22.00p -1.74%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 18.10p -1.74%Next (NXT) 2,649.00p -1.71%Schroders (SDR) 1,229.00p -1.68%FTSE 250 - RisersThomas Cook Group (TCG) 12.50p +22.55%TUI Travel (TT.) 153.80p +12.51%QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 124.10p +6.89%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 15.44p +6.63%Chemring Group (CHG) 382.50p +3.71%Centamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 83.70p +3.65%Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) 395.50p +2.75%Croda International (CRDA) 1,687.00p +2.43%Shanks Group (SKS) 106.30p +2.02%ITE Group (ITE) 182.40p +2.01%FTSE 250 - FallersLancashire Holdings (LRE) 689.50p -7.57%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 753.50p -7.55%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 9.80p -7.11%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 473.50p -5.68%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 404.50p -5.56%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 1,582.00p -4.81%International Personal Finance (IPF) 177.40p -4.21%Logica (LOG) 67.70p -4.04%Misys (MSY) 262.40p -4.02%Mothercare (MTC) 131.60p -4.01%--jh