London open: Footsie at 30-month high

21st Dec 2010 08:53

London has hit a new 30-month high on a partial recovery on Wall Street overnight and strong performance in Asia this morning.Banks are leading the way, with good gains for Barclays, RBS and Lloyds this morning. Reports, since played down, that Business secretary Vince Cable could walk away from the coalition may have spurred some interest as the bonus season approaches.Womenswear clothing retailer Alexon has issued the first weather-related profit warning. The snow has hurt sales during the crucial run-up to Christmas. It estimates the weather could knock £1.5m off profits for the year ending 29 January 2011. Other potential weather casualties are also under pressure. Retailer Dunelm is worst performer on the FTSE 350, but bingo club operator Rank, Dixons and Supergroup are all lower.In other company news, AstraZeneca is to stop all development work on its fledgling respiratory drug motavizumab, resulting in a $445m impairment charge this quarter. Astra had already flagged up this possibility and has been considering the future of motavizumab since August.BG Group's chief financial officer Ashley Almanza is leaving the oil company at the end of March next year, and will be replaced by ex-Vale finance boss Fabio de Oliveira Barbosa.Credit card and ID theft specialist CPP is on track this year as growth elsewhere continues to offset a difficult market in southern Europe. Zotefoams is lower even though it remains on course for a 20% lift in sales this year after fourth quarter revenues rose 7% driven by a surge at the high peformance end of its business. Profit before tax and exceptional items for 2010 will be in line with market expectations, the foam maker added.