London midday: China rate rise hits miners

8th Feb 2011 12:10

Shares are slightly under pressure after China's interest rate rise, but stocks move in both directions after updates.China has raised interest rates for the second time in just over a month as the fast-growing east Asian economy continues battling inflation.Mining giant Xstrata is in the red now despite a strong start after it enjoyed a sharp surge in profitability in 2010. The benefits of 2009's restructuring activities kicked in and production volumes soared. Profit before tax rose to $7.11bn, excluding exceptional items, from $1.87bn. Anglo American, Lonmin and Fresnillo are among the other miners under pressure.BG Group grew fourth quarter profits by 3% thanks to higher energy prices and a lower exploration charge. Operating profit rose to $1.80bn in the last three months of 2010 from $1.76bn the year before.The drilling results at Premier Oil's Catcher North Well in the UK Central North Sea have indicated an oil pay at the lower end of the company's expectations. Premier now estimates the overall oil reserves range for the combined Catcher, Catcher North and Catcher East discoveries at between 40 and 80mmbbls.Encore Oil and Nautical Petroleum are also involved in Catcher and are under pressure today.Retailers such as Marks & Spencer and JD Sports Fashion are doing well after the British Retail Consortium reported that like for like sales on the high street grew 2.3% last month compared with January 2010The political turmoil in Egypt and Tunisia will knock £20m from Thomas Cook's profits this quarter, the travel group warned, disrupting what had been a good start to the year. Revenue in the first quarter rose by 7% to £1.81bn reflecting increased volumes and improved product mix, while the traditional seasonal loss fell to £37.3m.Broadband telephony group TalkTalk is lower after saying it is to axe 580 jobs as part of a £25m cost cutting drive after sales and subscriber numbers fell in the third quarter. The cuts are part of a plan to integrate all the firm's technology and IT capabilities and eliminating functional duplication. Specialist insurer and reinsurer Beazley pumped up profit by 59% in 2010 and is in the mood for acquisitions. Profit before tax swelled to $250.8m from $158.1m in 2009, though this year's number was boosted by a one-off foreign exchange gain of $33.7m. McBride, maker of own label products for retailers, met forecasts with a 29.6% drop in first half profit as it battles with rising raw materials prices and a difficult retail environment, particularly in the UK. The shares are under pressure. The group, which supplies supermarkets such as France's Carrefour and Tesco, said revenue for the six months ended 31 December 2010 fell 1% at £407.9m from £412.4m a year earlier. Pre-tax profit fell to £15.5m from £22.5m.FTSE 100 - RisersMarks & Spencer Group (MKS) 370.10p +2.86%GKN (GKN) 203.00p +1.86%Inmarsat (ISAT) 697.50p +1.38%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 269.00p +1.13%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,389.00p +1.09%Reed Elsevier (REL) 575.00p +1.05%British Land Co (BLND) 531.50p +0.95%Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 651.50p +0.93%BG Group (BG.) 1,452.50p +0.87%BAE Systems (BA.) 344.10p +0.85%FTSE 100 - FallersLonmin (LMI) 1,772.00p -3.38%ARM Holdings (ARM) 592.00p -3.11%Anglo American (AAL) 3,309.50p -2.98%Cairn Energy (CNE) 423.50p -2.73%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,412.00p -2.55%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,371.00p -2.51%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,590.00p -2.51%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 1,022.00p -2.11%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,666.00p -1.65%Amec (AMEC) 1,210.00p -1.47%FTSE 250 - RisersBeazley (BEZ) 125.30p +4.59%ITE Group (ITE) 249.00p +3.71%Yule Catto & Co (YULC) 241.00p +2.99%Unite Group (UTG) 202.40p +2.74%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 867.00p +2.73%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 648.50p +2.53%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 606.00p +2.36%BH Macro Ltd. EUR Shares (BHME) € 16.78 +2.32%Inchcape (INCH) 395.10p +2.28%Punch Taverns (PUB) 68.85p +2.00%FTSE 250 - FallersPremier Oil (PMO) 1,976.00p -7.66%Mcbride (MCB) 137.50p -7.22%Mondi (MNDI) 514.00p -3.38%Centamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 141.80p -3.08%CSR (CSR) 402.60p -2.80%Sports Direct International (SPD) 160.90p -2.54%Soco International (SIA) 358.70p -2.53%International Personal Finance (IPF) 341.50p -2.43%JPMorgan Indian Inv Trust (JII) 397.10p -2.34%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 154.60p -2.15%