London afternoon: Footsie back above 5600

1st Oct 2010 14:56

The afternoon session has seen the Footsie advance confidently, almost regaining its high for the day which was hit shortly after 10:00am. A solid start by Wall Street on the back of better than expected spending data has helped sentiment this side of the pond. Oil giant BP is higher amid speculation that dividends will soon be resumed. Bob Dudley, who becomes chief executive of the oil company today, said that the board would meet soon to discuss restoring payouts next year, according to newspaper reports. BP's rival BG is doing better still. BG's Spanish peer Repsol has announced a deal with the Chinese refiner Sinopec, which will result in Sinopec holding a 40% stake in Repsol's Brazilian unit. BG Group and Repsol have been exploring for oil in waters of Brazil in partnership and the deal is also seen as supportive to BG.Mexican miner Fresnillo gets a boost from JPMorgan Cazenove, which has lifted its price target for the stock from 990p to 1400p, but fellow gold and silver miner Hochschild slips back after Cazenove switched its rating from "overweight" to "neutral".In the FTSE 250, drugs group Hikma Pharmaceuticals has moved to calm fears about the impact of a plan by US regulators to ban unapproved oral colchicine products to treat gout. The company said it will comply with any FDA regulatory requirements related to the sale of colchicine "if such a notice is served", but still predicts 20% revenue growth for its US generics business for the full year 2010 "irrespective of the timing of such notification".Having thought about it all week Cooper Controls has launched a rival bid for Mount Engineering at 82p a share, topping Redhall's 70p a share offer. Spectris, the mid-cap instrumentation and controls company, has bought American maker of rugged industrial networking components N-TRON for $51m (£32m).Shares in Iomart, a provider of data management, email and IT security services, rose sharply after it said interim results should beat expectations as clients seek to embrace new IT solutions.Leni Gas & Oil has entered into heads of agreement for a nitrogen enhanced oil recovery pilot project in Spain, which could increase recoverable reserves by one-third.Oil explorer Bowleven has agreed a revised option agreement with Vitol E&P Limited (Vitol) in respect of the Etinde Permit, offshore Cameroon.Hardide, the surface engineering technology provider, expects revenue for the year ended 30 September to exceed management budget. Other financial indicators are also expected to be better than internal forecasts, especially cash reserves, which at present are ahead of budget.