London midday: Equities mark time

30th Mar 2010 12:01

Footsie finished the morning little changed despite a strong showing from the mining sector.Mining giant BHP Billiton is higher after saying it has successfully persuaded several of its iron ore customers in Asia to move to shorter term contracts. The renegotiated contracts cover the majority of BHP Billiton's iron ore sales volume. Brazilian rival Vale has also agreed a 90% price rise for iron ore according to reports today. The development is seen as a victory for the mining companies over their major customers which, traditionally, have preferred to negotiate contract prices annually. Xstrata, Vedanta, Anglo American and Fresnillo sport the best gains in the sector among the heavyweights but second liner Ferrexpo is the best performer of the lot.Heavy write-downs meant lower full year profits at copper miner Kazazhmys despite a much stronger second half as the price of the metal rebounded. Copper prices hit a new 11-week high this week, but were weak at the start of the year and Kazakhmys's underlying profits for 2009 fell to $1.02bn from $1.14bn. The firm has failed to join its fellow miners in the blue.In economic news, Britain's recovery from the recession was not quite as muted as previously thought, new figures showed. The UK economy grew by 0.4% in the last quarter of 2009, not 0.3% as previously estimated, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.House prices bounced back during March, largely reversing the previous month's fall, new figures showed today. Prices across the UK rose by 0.7% this month, taking the cost of the average home to £164,519, Nationwide said. Prices dipped by 0.8% in February. Year-on-year, prices were up 9% on last year's average of £150,946.Chit-chat between bankers about loans at social events has proved expensive for Royal Bank of Scotland. The OFT has fined it £28.6m for possible price-fixing after Barclays confessed to the watchdog what had been going on. Barclays is in the clear under the OFT rule of not punishing informers. South Africa-focused bank Investec has agreed to pay £412m for the shares in British wealth manager Rensburg Sheppards that it does not already own. The move has prompted the market to re-evaluate the worth of Resnburg's sector peer Brewin Dolphin; the Edinburgh based stockbroker and fund manager is one of the top performing FTSE 250 stocks today.The market has also given the thumbs up to AMEC's £61.2m acquisition of Entec Holdings, a consultancy with a strong presence in the water services and wastewater sector.Daily Mail Group said first half trading has continued to be ahead of company expectations, but it remains cautious about the second half as the May election looms. Trading was boosted mostly by an improvement in its consumer businesses, as ad revenue picks up. Underlying advertising revenues rose 8% for the quarter to the end of March. Regional ad sales fell 5%.Punch Taverns today announced that chief executive Giles Thorley is stepping down from his post and leaving the board after nine years at the pub group. Bookmaker Ladbrokes, meanwhile, has appointed Richard Glynn, the current chairman of rival Sporting Index, as its new chief executive . Glynn will replace Chris Bell who is standing down after nine years at the helmPizza delivery firm Domino's Pizza continues to knock spots off its 2008 sales performance, with the company reporting a 10.5% rise in like-for-like sales for the year to date. The group said it has had a strong start to 2010, despite the adverse weather conditions in the early part of the year.Full-year sales volumes and turnover at Robert Wiseman have been running ahead of expectations, and the dairies operator is confident it will deliver profits that are ahead of previous forecasts.Sausages, bacon and pork maker Cranswick expects its full-year trading performance to be towards the upper end of market forecasts. The net asset value per share of Rugby Estates Investment Trust rose by just under a quarter in 2009, putting its portfolio performance in fourth place in a peer group of 268 funds.Eastern Europe focused oil and gas firm JKX said it performed in line with expectations in 2009 and is looking to make a 'significant leap forwards' in 2010. Revenue in 2009 eased to $196.5m from $207m in 2008. Oil revenue dived to $76.4m from $121.8m in 2008 as oil prices tanked, but gas revenue improved to $118.1m from $83.1m the year before.Book publisher Bloomsbury posted a drop in annual pre-tax profit but raised its dividend and said trading in 2010 had been excellent, helped by bestsellers such as Ben McIntyre's Operation Mincemeat.Training and assessment services group Melorio is seeing a surge in demand for its services and expects results for the current financial year to be materially ahead of market expectations.Consulting and business services firm Mouchel reported a sharp drop in first half profit, after the downturn in the Middle East and reduced activity within Management Consulting and Rail.FTSE 100 - RisersAmec (AMEC) 791.00p +3.26%Xstrata (XTA) 1,253.50p +1.79%Anglo American (AAL) 2,875.50p +1.52%Fresnillo (FRES) 846.50p +1.38%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,771.00p +1.28%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,296.00p +1.26%FTSE 100 - FallersInmarsat (ISAT) 768.50p -3.64%Investec (INVP) 545.50p -2.94%Kingfisher (KGF) 216.60p -2.43%Petrofac Ltd (PFC) 1,235.00p -1.75%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 44.01p -1.72%Cairn Energy (CNE) 419.70p -1.66%FTSE 250 - RisersCarphone Warehouse Group (CPW) 167.50p +8.06%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 383.00p +6.60%Brewin Dolphin (BRW) 146.90p +5.68%FTSE 250 - FallersConnaught (CNT) 275.00p -5.50%Afren (AFR) 98.75p -4.31%Mitie Group (MTO) 225.00p -2.77%