London midday: Stocks seeking direction

1st Jun 2011 12:16

Stocks are uncertain which way to move after a rally that brought the top share index past the psychologically important 6,000 point barrier yesterday.Rio Tinto is doing its bit to keep the FTSE 100 close to that level. The mining giant announced today that it is to establish a large-scale presence in commodity hungry China with the formation of a joint venture with state-owned aluminium producer Chinalco to explore for deposits in the country. Another Anglo-Australian mining giant, BHP Billiton, has scored a $580m victory against the tax man in the Australian High Court. The dispute concerned the claw-back of capital allowance deductions claimed by BHP Billiton for the ill-starred Port Hedland plant.The share price of Tate & Lyle has been sweetened by favourable coverage from the broker Deutsche Bank, which ups its price target on the group to 785p from 725p. The rise may have more to do with takeover chatter though.Plumber's merchant Wolseley saw like for like (LFL) revenue growth of 6% in its third quarter. This represents a slow-down from the LFL growth rate of 7% in the first quarter.Drugs company AstraZeneca is edging higher after Health Canada approved Brilinta, its ticagrelor tablet product, for the secondary prevention of atherothrombotic events in patients with acute coronary syndromes.Cruise operator Carnival has placed an order for a massive 141,000-ton, 3,611-passenger cruise ship, set to be the largest in its P&O Cruises fleet. Insulation specialist SIG is to sell its safety and work wear business to outsourcing firm Bunzl for an undisclosed sum.An initial assessment of the recently-purchased Booysendal South property has led Aquarius Platinum raise its production expectations at its Everest mine in South Africa.Property company St. Modwen is in demand after it said interim results should be at the top end of its expectations, "both in terms of profit and net asset value growth".Finance specialist Intermediate Capital said annual pre-tax profit rose 76% after a marked improvement in the performance of its investments. Nevertheless, shares are off the mark.Tile and flooring group Topps Tiles is feeling slightly trampled even after it posted a slight rise in revenues in the half year to 2 April, a "robust performance" but one that reflects continuing consumer caution, according to the company. Total revenues came in at £89.2m, a 1.5% increase from the same period the previous year. On a like-for-like basis sales were up by 1.8%. Pre-tax profits climbed to £10m from £7.4m. Shares in Matra Petroleum fell back after the Russia-focused oil group reported a leak at a well in its Sokolovskoe field. The leak seems to have developed in the latter stages of an acid treatment and clean-up operation, Matra said. FTSE 100 - RisersG4S (GFS) 291.00p +1.78%GKN (GKN) 222.30p +1.51%Hammerson (HMSO) 485.80p +1.31%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,336.00p +1.29%Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,296.00p +1.20%Unilever (ULVR) 1,993.00p +1.12%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,938.00p +1.10%John Wood Group (WG.) 635.00p +1.03%BT Group (BT.A) 202.80p +1.00%Anglo American (AAL) 3,057.50p +0.91%FTSE 100 - FallersNational Grid (NG.) 603.50p -3.59%Vodafone Group (VOD) 163.20p -3.40%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 50.66p -2.58%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 399.20p -2.30%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 389.80p -2.28%Whitbread (WTB) 1,601.00p -1.84%Barclays (BARC) 271.90p -1.72%Glencore International (GLEN) 523.50p -1.43%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,280.00p -1.16%Kingfisher (KGF) 283.80p -1.15%FTSE 250 - RisersTate & Lyle (TATE) 673.00p +8.46%Elementis (ELM) 167.60p +5.94%Avis Europe (AVE) 191.30p +3.85%Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 268.40p +3.63%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,820.00p +3.45%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 187.00p +3.26%Lamprell (LAM) 403.20p +3.12%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 495.40p +2.93%Renishaw (RSW) 1,735.00p +2.48%Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 397.70p +2.47%FTSE 250 - FallersAZ Electronic Materials SA (WI) (AZEM) 306.15p -9.45%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 43.16p -4.56%Debenhams (DEB) 72.30p -3.34%Redrow (RDW) 126.00p -3.30%De La Rue (DLAR) 797.50p -2.98%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 139.90p -2.78%Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 303.30p -2.57%Halfords Group (HFD) 391.00p -2.42%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 142.40p -2.20%Mothercare (MTC) 428.90p -1.97%