London open: Miners, engineers lead fallers

16th Aug 2011 08:33

Just four stocks were making gains in early trading as London's blue chip index slipped 1% lower. The Footsie gave up its gains made on Monday and was trading below the 5,300 mark as miners and engineers provided a drag.Randgold Resources was among the few risers, tracking the price of gold higher. However, sector peers Kazakhmys, Xstrata and Vedanta Resources were out of favour.Engineers GKN, IMI and Weir Group fell lower in early trading.Resolution, the UK insurance buyout firm founded by Clive Cowdery, dipped into the red despite saying that it is on target to achieving its restructuring strategy as operating profits more than doubled in the six months ended 30 June.Production more than trebled at one of Heritage Oil's Russian fields, as results from drilling and testing one well exceeded pre-drill expectations. Shares rose higher.The Thomas Cook Group, the Co-operative Group and the Midlands Co-operative are to merge after the Competition Commission gave the go-ahead for the deal. Thomas Cook was among the fallers on the FTSE 250.Water group Pennon fell despite saying that trading has been in line with management expectations since March 31.Dublin-based oil and gas firm Petroceltic rose after it narrowed its half-year losses during what has been a busy 12 months for the company, which saw it broaden its asset base through a number of deals. BCFTSE 100 - RisersRandgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,240.00p +0.97%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,238.00p +0.32%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 559.00p +0.09%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 33.25p +0.06%FTSE 100 - FallersGKN (GKN) 195.40p -3.36%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,022.00p -2.67%IMI (IMI) 856.50p -2.56%Xstrata (XTA) 1,067.00p -2.33%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,389.00p -2.25%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,394.00p -2.18%ITV (ITV) 59.65p -1.97%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,221.00p -1.85%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,890.00p -1.82%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,777.00p -1.77%FTSE 250 - RisersBwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 110.10p +4.16%Premier Foods (PFD) 15.00p +3.31%RPC Group (RPC) 336.90p +1.91%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 228.70p +1.55%COLT Group SA (COLT) 117.60p +1.38%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 141.50p +1.00%SVG Capital (SVI) 257.00p +0.90%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 617.50p +0.82%Supergroup (SGP) 988.00p +0.82%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 133.10p +0.76%FTSE 250 - FallersTelecom Plus (TEP) 644.00p -4.87%St James's Place (STJ) 341.60p -4.02%Afren (AFR) 108.50p -3.81%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 372.80p -3.37%Soco International (SIA) 301.90p -3.18%Cookson Group (CKSN) 531.50p -3.01%TUI Travel (TT.) 160.00p -2.85%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 281.50p -2.73%International Personal Finance (IPF) 267.40p -2.73%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 154.90p -2.52%