London open: Calm continues after rally

5th Jul 2011 08:27

London's leading share index remains becalmed having rallied strongly last week following the Greek parliament's vote in favour of austerity measures.In company news, most interest is to be found in the mid-cap index. N Brown, the FTSE-250 online and catalogue retail firm is wanted after total group revenue increased 5.1% in the 18 weeks to 2 July this year. On a like-for-like basis (adjusting for its new lingerie outfit Figleaves) revenue growth was 1.6%. Trading is in line with expectations at the waste management group Shanks, but the chief executive Tom Drury is leaving to spend more time with his family and the shares are down.Tullow Oil enjoyed record revenues in the first half of the year while achieving a 79% exploration and appraisal success rate. Total revenue for the first half of 2011 is expected to be a record for the company at around $1.05bn, compared with $486m for the same period in 2010. House builder Persimmon said market conditions in the first half of the year have been stable. The group completed 4,439 homes, down from 4,657 in the first half of last year, with saless improving from the lower sales order book at the start of the year.Among smaller companies, Croma is looking less like a penny stock after the security services provider said its subsidiary Photobase has won a £450,000 contract, its biggest to date, to develop security software for electronic security group CSS.Bed and sofa maker Airsprung is sharply lower after saying it expects to see a continuing decline in profitability this year as demand for its beds deteriorates.FTSE 100 - RisersSchroders (SDR) 1,620.00p +1.50%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,537.00p +1.40%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 370.40p +0.98%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,358.00p +0.97%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 299.90p +0.81%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 138.00p +0.80%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 332.80p +0.79%Tesco (TSCO) 407.25p +0.72%Next (NXT) 2,319.00p +0.69%John Wood Group (WG.) 698.50p +0.65%FTSE 100 - FallersAssociated British Foods (ABF) 1,069.00p -1.57%Xstrata (XTA) 1,379.00p -1.08%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,069.00p -0.91%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 398.30p -0.85%Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,499.00p -0.83%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,384.00p -0.79%Barclays (BARC) 260.70p -0.76%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,457.00p -0.65%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 38.86p -0.64%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 49.59p -0.57%FTSE 250 - RisersTelecom Plus (TEP) 687.50p +4.48%Soco International (SIA) 375.50p +3.59%Premier Foods (PFD) 19.31p +3.21%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 323.00p +2.38%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 940.50p +2.28%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 400.50p +1.93%Amlin (AML) 416.00p +1.66%National Express Group (NEX) 263.30p +1.62%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 265.80p +1.53%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 613.00p +1.49%FTSE 250 - FallersSports Direct International (SPD) 223.60p -4.16%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 46.87p -2.33%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 398.60p -1.94%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 311.20p -1.83%Shanks Group (SKS) 124.90p -1.73%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 140.70p -1.61%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 102.50p -1.44%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 38.29p -1.44%Carpetright (CPR) 616.00p -1.36%Persimmon (PSN) 485.20p -1.32%