London close: Eighth day of gains

22nd Jul 2009 16:27

Footsie finished with gains for the eighth day in a row to sit just shy of 4,500 points after flitting between the red and the blue for much of the day.Mining stocks weighed down the market. BHP Billiton set the tone for the sector with its annual production report this morning. Quarterly (Apr-Jun) production increased for 12 major commodities including metallurgical coal, petroleum, copper and energy coal, while annual production records were achieved for petroleum, copper cathode and iron ore. However, the company said the underlying trend for metals demand is still being masked by restocking activity, and demand for commodities generally is mixed as China has rebuilt its stocks.Broker Investec responded to the announcement by cutting its rating for BHP Billiton to "hold" from "buy" while Evolution Securities thinks the shares should be sold after their recent good run. Xstrata, ENRC, Kazakhmys and Lonmin are all lower after BHP's statement.Banks rubbed shoulders with the miners at the bottom of the Footsie pile after US broker comment suggested that more fund raising may be on the way. US broker JP Morgan calculates Barclays will need to find another £12.8bn and RBS £8.5bn to comply with new rules on higher capital requirements, scheduled to be introduced next year. Meanwhile long time banking bear Sandy Chen at Panmure Gordon estimates RBS will be loss making until 2012 and rack up £39bn of bad debt provisions, while he expects Lloyds to write-off £24bn this year and £23.5bn in 2010.Pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline issued a second quarter update in which it posted a fall in revenue in the second quarter as generic competition in the US hit sales. Glaxo said its strategy to diversify from western markets and conventional drugs was proving successful, with the 'white pill/western market' accounting for 31% of sales compared with 38% over the same quarter the previous year.Engineer GKN has received the backing of 95.4% of shareholders for its £423m fundraising. Over 807m of the shares available through the fully underwritten 6 for 5 rights issue at 50p were taken up. Just over 91% of shareholders at Marston's backed the brewer and pub owner's £176m fully underwritten 11 for 10 cash call at 59p. The firm has been criticised for earmarking the money to finance expansion rather than reduce its £1.2bn debt pile.Business publisher Euromoney saw heavy falls across three of its revenue streams in the last three months and cautioned that the one bright spot, subscriptions, is also now slowing. Total revenues for the quarter to June 30, 2009 fell by 11% to £84.2m. US solar panel group Energy Conversion Devices has offered to buy Aim-listed Solar Integrated Technologies for $16.3m including debt.Transport and logistics group Stobart has bagged a distribution contract for Tesco's new 1.2m sq ft import centre in Middlesbrough worth about £25m a year.Pharmaceuticals group Sinclair Pharma said it expects annual EBITDA to be in line with board expectations while revenue is expected to decline as wholesalers destock in the economic downturn. The revenue decline disappointed the market and the shares are trading sharply lower.Elsewhere in the sector Phytopharm is wanted after it said discussions are underway with potential partners for the future partnering or out-licensing of pharmaceutical and functional food programmes. Shares in joinery group Galiform powered ahead as it said the rate of revenue decline in the second half was less than in the first.FTSE 100 - RisersShire Plc (SHP) 866.50p +3.96%Next (NXT) 1,671.00p +3.28%Reed Elsevier (REL) 492.00p +3.20%TUI Travel (TT.) 231.75p +3.00%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 1,675.00p +2.70%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 460.25p +2.45%Tullow Oil (TLW) 976.00p +2.20%Pennon Group (PNN) 507.50p +2.16%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 333.00p +2.15%Invensys (ISYS) 250.75p +2.14%FTSE 100 - FallersLonmin (LMI) 1,136.00p -3.15%Barclays (BARC) 299.60p -3.14%Aviva (AV.) 328.00p -2.24%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 740.50p -2.12%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,502.50p -1.80%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 269.25p -1.73%Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 373.00p -1.71%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 72.30p -1.55%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 672.00p -1.54%Land Securities Group (LAND) 481.75p -1.38%FTSE 250 - RisersMondi (MNDI) 234.25p +8.95%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 402.50p +7.55%GKN (GKN) 94.50p +6.78%SThree (STHR) 207.00p +6.43%Rightmove (RMV) 398.00p +6.42%Henderson Group (HGG) 100.75p +6.05%Punch Taverns (PUB) 86.00p +5.20%Mcbride (MCB) 157.50p +5.00%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 232.00p +4.86%IG Group Holdings (IGG) 288.00p +4.25%FTSE 250 - FallersRedrow (RDW) 182.00p -3.70%Chloride Group (CHLD) 138.00p -3.50%Halfords Group (HFD) 324.25p -3.35%Marston's (MARS) 88.75p -3.01%JPMorgan Indian Inv Trust (JII) 324.50p -2.99%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 195.25p -2.74%HMV Group (HMV) 117.75p -2.69%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 219.50p -2.55%Victrex (VCT) 610.00p -2.40%SIG (SHI) 106.50p -2.29%