London open: Miners lead decline

25th Aug 2009 08:15

Miners are leading London's top stocks lower in early dealing after a poor afternoon session in the US and weaker Asian markets. Kazakhmys is the worst performer, down more than 4%, closely followed by Lonmin, Xstrata, Antofagasta, Eurasian Natural Resources, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Randgold Resources.Over here, housebuilder Persimmon reported a drop in first half profits, but says selling prices have stabilised in most parts of mainland UK. Cairn Energy reported a loss after tax, but before a $55m exceptional item, of $20m for the six months to 30 June versus a $17m profit a year ago. Punch Taverns is confident of its longer term prospects and expectations for the full year remain unchanged, but it remains cautious over the near-term due to the lack of forward visibility on trading outlook. Car insurer Admiral announced another record half year profit despite the poor economic conditions, prompting the firm to gives its employees free shares worth £4.5m in total. Instrumentation and controls company Spectris reported a 66% drop in first-half profits as challenging market conditions continued with weak demand across all major regions.James Fisher, the leading UK marine services, said strong organic growth overseas led by the Specialist Technical division more than offset the recessionary issues in the UK market.Aggreko, provider of mobile generators, reported a 56% increase in interim pre-tax profit, upped its dividend 15% and said its outlook for the full year remains unchanged. Outsourced workplaces provider Regus upped its interim dividend by 33.3% despite a drop in first half profits.FTSE 100 - RisersVodafone Group (VOD) 132.50p +1.11%Bunzl (BNZL) 582.00p +0.95%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,038.00p +0.78%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,211.50p +0.75%International Power (IPR) 281.70p +0.50%G4S (GFS) 217.10p +0.42%British Land Co (BLND) 486.70p +0.37%Thomson Reuters (TRIL) 1,944.00p +0.36%Unilever (ULVR) 1,671.00p +0.36%Centrica (CNA) 235.50p +0.30%FTSE 100 - FallersKazakhmys (KAZ) 940.00p -4.08%Lonmin (LMI) 1,482.00p -3.70%Xstrata (XTA) 843.50p -3.10%Antofagasta (ANTO) 789.50p -3.01%Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 871.50p -2.79%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,451.00p -2.51%Anglo American (AAL) 2,003.00p -2.29%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 50.60p -2.22%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,612.00p -2.21%Randgold Resources (RRS) 3,508.00p -2.04%