London open: Early surge for Footsie

1st Jun 2009 08:37

London has opened sharply higher after gains in Asia overnight and with strong showings by the mining and oil sectors.There are only a handful of fallers this morning so far with the miners and oil stocks pushing the index higher. Xstrata, Vedanta and Lonmin are leading the way with Cairn Energy the best of the oil groups.Taylor Wimpey is higher on another encouraging housing market update. Hometrack, the housing market analyst, said that the average house price stayed the same from April to May at £155,600, the first time in 20 months it hasn't fallen month-on-month. A sharp rally in equities from March helped investment company Alliance Trust post a slight rise in its net asset value (NAV) during the first quarter of 2009.A consortium that includes services, maintenance and building group Interserve has bagged two public/private partnership education contracts in Northern Ireland . Interserve will provide facilities management services for four newly built schools. The services are valued at a combined £34m over 25 years.Electrical components maker Chloride's order book is at record levels, despite a marked slowdown in order intake in the second half of its financial year. The company announced a 28% increase in pre-tax profits to £39.8m in the year to 31 March 2009, from £31.1m the previous year. US-focused oil group Nighthawk Energy tumbled on news it and its partner Running Foxes have agreed to sell to finance group San Severina a 20% working interest in the Jolly Ranch prospect in Colorado. Nighthawk will receive $10.9m initially and a further $29m if all of the options are exercised.Mainland Europe property investor Hansteen said it is continuing to see resilience in its main markets, with net occupancy rising between 31 December and 15 May.Cake and bread maker Finsbury Food has received an early stage bid approach, the AIM-listed firm confirmed this morning. "The preliminary approach was exploratory in nature and the directors believe that there is considerable doubt that an offer will be forthcoming from this party," the company said.Specialist printing group Printing.com reported a 15% decline in full year profit as margins came under pressure, but announced a special dividend and said it is attracting a record level of new clients. Pre-tax profit fell to £2.06m for year ended 31 March 2009 from £2.42m before. Turnover during the period was up 7.3% to £14.47m.