London open: Blue chips shrug off Wall St woes

3rd Jul 2009 08:49

London has shrugged off last night's collapse on Wall Street to trade higher in the absence of traders in the US, closed for Independence Day on Friday.The Dow Jones slumped more than 200 points Thursday as the market reacted badly to awful jobs data.Banks are a strong spot, despite chancellor Alistair Darling firing a warning about the re-emergence of the bonus culture. Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds are both well ahead.Company news is limited this morning. BHP Billiton has agreed to sell its Yabulu nickel refinery for an undisclosed sum after writing down its value by US$675m. Friends Provident is lower ahead of its demerger of FCAM.Engineer and construction contractor Balfour Beatty has traded in line with expectations since its previous update in May. It attributed the steadiness of the ship to continued infrastructure spending by customers, acquisitions and tight control of costs.Oil and gas firm Salamander has spudded the Phu Kheng-1 exploration well in Block L27/43, Northeast Thailand. "Phu Kheng-1 has the potential to open up a new play in the Khorat basin," said chief executive James Menzies. Ireland's premier bank, Bank of Ireland, has warned it is facing a squeeze on profit margins in addition to the huge impairment charges it will take this year and next. "Demand for new lending remains muted and the lower interest rate environment together with the impact on deposit pricing of more intense competition has resulted in pressure on liability spreads," it said in a trading update. Indoor five-a-side football firm Goals Soccer continues to trade in line with expectations despite severe snow in February, which reduced interim sales and profits by approximately £300,000 in the six months to June.European Islamic Investment Bank (EIIB), the Sharia compliant investment bank, responded to the recent surge in its share price and admitted that it had received approaches. "The board of EIIB notes the recent movement in its share price and announces that it has received a number of preliminary approaches from third parties," said the group EIIB's share price has surged 40% in the last two days.IT services firm Morse is another rising fast. Revenue and adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) will be towards the upper end of analyst expectations for the year, it said.