London midday: Slide continues

22nd Sep 2011 12:04

The FTSE 100 has continued diving and now looks in danger of dipping below the 5,000 point mark as comments from the US Federal Reserve last night continue to jangle nerves.Miners Xstrata and Kazakhmys are now posting double-digit percentage losses. Luxury fashion group Burberry is also nursing hefty losses."Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in August indicates that economic growth remains slow," the minutes from the Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee read. "Recent indicators point to continuing weakness in overall labour market conditions, and the unemployment rate remains elevated," the report continued,In such times, the boring but dependable returns of utility companies look appealing, and to underline the point United Utilities confirmed it is on track to deliver its out-performance targets. First half revenue came in higher than last year, though operating expenses are also on the up. The group said it intends to accelerate some £100m of previously agreed pension deficit payments, providing a higher investment return for the group than could have been achieved through short term deposits. The shares are still lower today though.TUI Travel is another company that is on course to meet full year expectations. Summer 2011 has traded well since the package tour firm's last update, with bookings up in most source markets. Winter 2011/12 trading to date is satisfactory overall, but the group has planned for a slow recovery to trading in Egypt and Tunisia. The shares are lower.But no-frills airline easyJet bucks the trend after it said the increase in total revenue per seat at constant currency for the second half of the year is expected to be towards the upper end of its expectations at around 6%, which means full year growth will be around 3%. Full year profit before tax is now expected to be between £240m and £250m.Tim Breedon, Group Chief Executive of Legal & General has advised the company of his intention to retire from the company at the end of 2012. The insurance giant will announce a successor in due course.Turning to smaller companies, shares in the southern Africa-focused mining company Diamondcorp have fallen over 6% following the release of company's half year results which show a loss of £1.17m. The bulk of the loss is a result of administrative and overhead costs which total £663,568 while depreciation and amortisation hit £491,194. Online financial news publisher Vitesse Media fell into losses in the six months to 31 July after experiencing a slowdown that began in April. The company, whose publications include Growth Company Investor, saw revenues fall to £1.51m from £1.56m over the same period the previous year, while a £33,000 profit turned into a £15,000 loss. FTSE 100 - RisersAutonomy Corporation (AU.) 2,522.00p -0.16%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 668.50p -2.12%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,469.00p -2.20%United Utilities Group (UU.) 595.50p -2.38%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,298.00p -2.41%Tesco (TSCO) 354.65p -2.57%Next (NXT) 2,574.00p -2.61%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 282.50p -2.82%Unilever (ULVR) 1,929.00p -2.92%Rexam (REX) 311.70p -2.99%FTSE 100 - FallersKazakhmys (KAZ) 861.00p -10.87%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,156.00p -10.25%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,001.00p -10.14%Xstrata (XTA) 847.40p -9.83%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,060.00p -9.71%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,365.00p -9.54%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,760.00p -9.04%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 578.50p -8.32%Prudential (PRU) 548.00p -8.21%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 968.50p -8.02%FTSE 250 - RiserseasyJet (EZJ) 331.10p +6.12%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 841.50p +1.32%BH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 11.85 +1.20%BH Macro Ltd. EUR Shares (BHME) € 19.39 +0.94%BH Global Ltd. GBP Shares (BHGG) 1,191.00p +0.76%Computacenter (CCC) 385.00p +0.65%BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 1,985.00p +0.46%Redrow (RDW) 110.40p +0.27%De La Rue (DLAR) 792.00p +0.25%Kier Group (KIE) 1,243.00p +0.24%FTSE 250 - FallersBetfair Group (BET) 704.00p -10.09%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 322.10p -9.65%Premier Foods (PFD) 11.51p -9.23%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 39.99p -8.89%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 234.70p -8.39%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 204.60p -8.25%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 409.60p -8.14%International Personal Finance (IPF) 195.30p -8.05%Petropavlovsk (POG) 733.50p -8.03%Misys (MSY) 227.00p -7.72%