London midday: Stocks stuck lower ahead of jobs data

2nd Sep 2011 12:27

London's leading share index is firmly in the red now, giving up gains from earlier this week ahead of the big US jobs report due this afternoon.The eagerly awaited headline results from a clinical trial comparing AstraZeneca's cholesterol treatment Crestor to Pfizer's Lipitor have been released, and have not delivered the knock-out blow that the company was hoping for. The results for the primary efficacy measure of the study demonstrated a numerically greater reduction in favour of Crestor versus atorvastatin but did not reach statistical significance. Banks are under the cosh, although they have been posting big gains previously. Lloyds, RBS and Barclays are lower. Construction and property consultancy Cyril Sweett saw its share price plunge more than 20% after announcing that it had cancelled a number of projects in the Middle East. Blaming the Arab spring for the cancellations, the company said that it now expects a lower level of client investment going forward than previously anticipated. Global technology business Smiths Group is to purchase Power Holdings, a designer and manufacturer of specialist power distribution, conditioning and monitoring systems. The purchase price of $235m will be subject to post closing adjustments with respect to working capital at completion. Ukrainian iron ore pellet producer Ferrexpo has secured a new credit facility of $420m at a rate two and a quarter points above the London interbank offer rate (LIBOR). The credit facility can be drawn at any time during the loan term which has a maturity of five years including amortization over two years. London Stock Exchange Group has confirmed it is in discussions with LCH.Clearnet Group regarding a potential takeover of the Anglo-French clearing house.Catering giant Compass has been on the acquisition trail again, this time gobbling up a new company in its home market rather than the more exotic countries it has been expanding in lately. It has acquired Cygnet Foods, a provider of lunches to more than 450 schools in England. In 2010, Cygnet had revenues of £9.3m and gross assets of £2.2m.FTSE 100 - RisersRandgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,490.00p +1.49%Serco Group (SRP) 516.50p +0.88%Inmarsat (ISAT) 484.70p +0.85%Compass Group (CPG) 556.50p +0.82%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,105.00p +0.77%British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,798.00p +0.74%Fresnillo (FRES) 2,029.00p +0.35%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,306.00p +0.21%Sage Group (SGE) 255.80p +0.16%National Grid (NG.) 623.50p +0.08%FTSE 100 - FallersBarclays (BARC) 171.65p -4.82%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 34.15p -4.25%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,883.00p -4.22%3i Group (III) 203.10p -4.15%BP (BP.) 375.50p -3.35%GKN (GKN) 194.20p -3.24%IMI (IMI) 866.50p -3.18%Aviva (AV.) 329.20p -3.15%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 101.90p -3.14%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 170.70p -3.01%FTSE 250 - RisersITE Group (ITE) 180.70p +6.23%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 79.85p +3.50%Perform Group (PER) 183.00p +3.21%Rank Group (RNK) 135.70p +2.88%SVG Capital (SVI) 263.00p +2.53%Genus (GNS) 962.50p +2.50%Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 400.00p +2.09%F&C Commercial Property Trust Ltd. (FCPT) 102.10p +1.90%Spirit Pub Company (SPRT) 41.76p +1.85%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 542.00p +1.78%FTSE 250 - FallersHome Retail Group (HOME) 126.60p -4.88%Cookson Group (CKSN) 501.50p -4.84%Bodycote (BOY) 283.90p -4.80%Ocado Group (OCDO) 116.40p -4.59%Invensys (ISYS) 260.60p -4.51%Fenner (FENR) 354.20p -4.43%Inchcape (INCH) 316.70p -3.88%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 343.20p -3.81%Mothercare (MTC) 360.00p -3.74%Afren (AFR) 100.80p -3.72%