London midday: Stocks steady ahead of US jobless

2nd Jul 2010 12:22

Footsie ended the morning on or around its high for the day but trading is quiet ahead of the release this afternoon of the US non-farm payrolls data.Resource stocks continue to lead the way while banks claw back some of their recent losses as fears over European banks' balance sheets recedes.Dana Petroleum is the star performer after it confirmed last night it is in talks with a potential bidder, widely reported to be South Korean national oil company KNOC. The shares are up strongly today valuing Dana at about £1.3bn. The talk is of a bid being worth around £1.5bn though Dana said the discussions are very early stage. Tullow, Cairn and Premier Oil are all higher in sympathy.The Australian government's decision to replace the controversial Resources 'Super Tax' with a more moderate alternative has given a lift to BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata. In a joint statement the trio welcomed a new Mineral Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) that would only apply to iron ore and coal resources from 1 July 2012. The battle for ownership of Chloride looks set to come to an end after the electrical plugs and peripherals maker recommended a 375p per share bid by US giant Emerson. With Emerson's offer, shareholders also get to keep the 3.3p final dividend. In contrast, Brit Insurance is playing hard to get in its courtship with US private equity firm Apollo. The US outfit has told Brit Insurance it may be prepared to up its £10 a share bid by 50p, but the underwriter thinks this still undervalues the business.Builders' merchant Travis Perkins has seen a strong rebound in trading since March. The Wickes owner now expects its first half will beat its expectations while dividends will resume again with a 5p interim. Group revenue for the six months ended 30 June was up by 4.7%, with like-for-like sales up 3.4%. Like-for-like turnover in the last two months was 10.3% ahead in Merchanting and in the last 9 weeks 1.6% ahead in Retail. Sector peer Wolseley moves higher in Travis Perkins's slipstream.InterContinental Hotels (IHG) has sold the 422 room InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta to Maryland based Pebblebrook Hotel Trust for $105m in cash. IHG will continue to manage the hotel under a long term management contract. South Atlantic-focused oil explorer Rockhopper's samples from its recent discovery on the Sea Lion prospect, off the Falkland Islands, have been confirmed as medium grade crude. Rockhopper took the sample from the Sea Lion 14/10-2 oil discovery well in the North Falkland Basin and tested them under reservoir conditions.Mediterranean Oil and Gas is not so happy. It has acknowledged that Italian plans to stop oil companies drilling near its coastline may affect the company's key Ombrina Mare project. "Once the decree comes into force, it may apply to permit applications currently pending and may apply to the Company's Ombrina Mare project," admits the London-listed firm. Northern Petroleum is one of the lucky ones as it does not expect Italy's plans to set up a five-mile no-drill zone around its coastline will affect the AIM-listed explorer. Morgan Sindall, the construction and regeneration group, said the positive start to the year has continued and it remains on track to meet full-year expectations.FTSE 100 - RisersCairn Energy (CNE) 420.00p +4.66%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,033.00p +4.19%Xstrata (XTA) 876.70p +3.65%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 54.05p +3.52%Barclays (BARC) 264.35p +3.52%Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 551.00p +2.99%Aviva (AV.) 314.60p +2.88%Wolseley (WOS) 1,329.00p +2.47%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 986.50p +2.23%BG Group (BG.) 1,023.50p +2.15%FTSE 100 - FallersSmith & Nephew (SN.) 603.00p -2.03%Vodafone Group (VOD) 136.00p -1.70%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,033.00p -1.69%BT Group (BT.A) 126.10p -1.48%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 84.25p -1.46%3i Group (III) 259.40p -1.26%Inmarsat (ISAT) 706.50p -1.26%Serco Group (SRP) 565.00p -1.22%Investec (INVP) 425.10p -0.96%Hammerson (HMSO) 333.90p -0.92%