London midday: Shares buoyant as commodities soar

8th Apr 2011 12:13

Miners are leading the rally in the FTSE 100 as commodity prices advance, though the higher oil price is causing concern.Shares in Fresnillo, which mines for silver in Mexico, were the best performing in London's leading share index. Silver hit $40 an ounce for the first time since 1980, while gold prices have hit record levels. More mainstream miners such as Anglo American and Xstrata are also posting good gains.The higher oil price has also influenced the FTSE 100, with British Airways owner IAG and the crude-thirsty cruise operator Carnival among the heaviest fallers. The Office for National Statistics revealed that factory gate annual inflation rose 5.4% last month, surpassing expectations of a 5.1% rise. The increase was due to rising petrol, tobacco, alcohol and food prices.Indian mining giant Vedanta is edging higher after it produced record volumes of metals in the fourth quarter as it sought to benefit from soaring commodity prices. In its Indian zinc-lead-silver operations, mined metal production was a record 231,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter and 840,000 tonnes for the full year, respectively 19% and 9% higher than the same period last year. Mining peer Rio Tinto has finally managed to get majority control of Australian mining company Riversdale, bringing to an end a bid saga that has been running since Christmas. Rio said its shareholding has passed 50% of coal miner Riversdale, and may grow further as the company's offer remains open until 20 April. Energy supplier Scottish & Southern Energy is the best performer on the blue chip index after an upgrade from Credit Suisse to 'outperform', from 'neutral'. The broker said that while last year's results will see many adverse earnings impacts, earnings growth could be strong from here on.Student accommodation firm Unite Group is doing well after it saw a 1.7% increase in the net asset value (NAV) of its UNITE UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF) in the first quarter of 2011, to £0.822 per unit. "Reservations for the USAF portfolio for the forthcoming academic year are already at 60%, ahead of the 57% level achieved at the same time last year," said chief financial officer, Joe Lister. Trading in the year to end-March was in line with management expectations at information technology services firm Phoenix IT. Strong cash flow saw net debt subside to £62.4m at the end of March, down from £67.9m the year before. Landkom's crops were largely unaffected by the severe winter weather, the Ukrainian grain and oilseeds grower said. Just 2.14% of its crops planted during autumn were lost, the company said, with the winter wheat remaining completely unscathed. Tabletop fantasy and science fiction war games firm Games Workshop jumped 10% after saying it expects pre-tax profits in the current financial year will be ahead of expectations.FTSE 100 - RisersFresnillo (FRES) 1,650.00p +2.61%Anglo American (AAL) 3,298.00p +2.45%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,496.00p +2.40%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,575.00p +2.30%Old Mutual (OML) 145.70p +2.25%Prudential (PRU) 748.00p +1.98%Xstrata (XTA) 1,502.00p +1.97%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 973.50p +1.94%GKN (GKN) 203.70p +1.90%Aviva (AV.) 455.60p +1.86%FTSE 100 - FallersICAP (IAP) 517.00p -4.26%Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,031.00p -1.65%Carnival (CCL) 2,404.00p -1.56%Aggreko (AGK) 1,678.00p -1.06%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 221.80p -0.54%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 702.50p -0.43%Whitbread (WTB) 1,662.00p -0.36%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,186.00p -0.34%WPP (WPP) 767.00p -0.26%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,266.00p -0.24%FTSE 250 - RisersLamprell (LAM) 361.60p +6.07%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 48.18p +5.89%Premier Foods (PFD) 31.10p +4.19%Pace (PIC) 160.30p +3.96%Renishaw (RSW) 1,639.00p +3.67%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 644.50p +3.53%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 471.20p +3.11%Amlin (AML) 407.10p +3.09%Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 326.80p +3.06%Elementis (ELM) 163.10p +2.97%FTSE 250 - FallersJD Sports Fashion (JD.) 875.50p -2.45%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 86.35p -1.71%Bellway (BWY) 693.00p -1.70%easyJet (EZJ) 327.60p -1.62%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 139.70p -1.62%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 626.00p -1.42%TR Property Inv Trust Sigma Shares (TRYS) 84.15p -1.29%Exillon Energy (EXI) 452.90p -1.29%JPMorgan Asian Inv Trust (JAI) 238.10p -1.16%Unite Group (UTG) 211.70p -1.03%