London midday: FTSE 100 unchanged despite retail slump

9th Jun 2011 12:14

Retailers are heavily under the cosh today after a raft of gloomy updates, but the top share index is little changed as investors await US jobs data due later in the afternoon.Ongoing difficulties at the catalogue-based retailer Argos continue to plague its owner Home Retail Group, which has announced an 8.1% fall in sales at the chain to £817m in the 13 weeks to 28 May. The shares are down by more than 12%. On a like-for-like basis, excluding the impact of new openings, sales at Argos were down by 9.6% from the same period the previous year during the period.Pressures on the UK consumer have also contributed to an acceleration in the decline in sales at Trendy sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion, whose shares are also lower. Like-for-like sales in the period between the end of January and 4 June fell by 2.8% from the same period the previous year.But car parts and bikes retailer Halfords is doing well after it reported a solid set of full year results despite ongoing retail sluggishness, helped by improved gross margin and cost control. Underlying pre-tax profit rose 7.2% to £125.6m for the year to 1 April 2011, in line with forecasts, while group revenue increased 4.6% to £869.7m after the acquisition of its Autocentres business.#Nevertheless, Marks & Spencer and B&Q owner Kingfisher are among the heaviest fallers in the FTSE 100, while South American copper miner Antofagasta rallies after declining on the back of the its production report yesterday.Also in mining, shares in African Barrick Gold rallied after it repeated its assertion that the Tanzanian government has no plans to impose a "super-tax" on the country's mining industry, pointing out that no such proposals were in the Budget the finance minister presented to parliament yesterday. Spreadbetting firm IG Group expects trading revenue for the year ended 31 May to be 7% ahead of last year, as strong growth in Europe and Singapore offset a weakening performance in Japan.Bowleven, the West Africa-focused oil and gas explorer, saw its share price jump by more than a tenth after tests at its Sapele-1ST (side-track) well showed flow rates believed to be commercial. The well, located in the Douala Basin, offshore Cameroon, was drilled to a true vertical depth of 3,634m in water depths of around 24m, and the interval flowed at a stabilised rate of 2,023 barrels of oil per day. Shares of distribution group Wincanton fell as it swung into a pre-tax loss following a slowdown at its UK and French businesses. The goods transporter reported a pre-tax loss of £25.8m for the year ended 31 March 2011 compared to a pre-tax profit of £3m the year earlier. Revenue at the group was down slightly at £2.18bn from £2.182m previously. FTSE 100 - RisersWeir Group (WEIR) 1,995.00p +1.99%WPP (WPP) 737.50p +1.86%Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) 1,407.00p +1.74%IMI (IMI) 1,019.00p +1.39%Amec (AMEC) 1,107.00p +1.37%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,799.00p +1.35%John Wood Group (WG.) 636.50p +1.19%Centrica (CNA) 325.60p +1.12%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 307.40p +1.12%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,292.00p +1.10%FTSE 100 - FallersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 47.48p -2.45%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,097.00p -1.96%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 40.58p -1.89%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,155.00p -1.87%Barclays (BARC) 258.80p -1.65%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 365.80p -1.45%TUI Travel (TT.) 220.10p -1.17%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,542.00p -1.15%Unilever (ULVR) 1,943.00p -1.02%Kingfisher (KGF) 271.40p -0.91%FTSE 250 - RisersAnglo Pacific Group (APF) 308.80p +3.24%Halfords Group (HFD) 410.50p +3.19%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 139.60p +3.10%Yule Catto & Co (YULC) 226.40p +2.58%Betfair Group (BET) 820.00p +2.56%Elementis (ELM) 158.10p +2.46%Senior (SNR) 154.40p +2.32%Telecom Plus (TEP) 595.00p +2.32%Bodycote (BOY) 368.40p +2.19%PZ Cussons (PZC) 377.00p +1.95%FTSE 250 - FallersHome Retail Group (HOME) 178.10p -11.96%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 17.00p -11.92%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 906.50p -7.45%Debenhams (DEB) 67.30p -2.96%Punch Taverns (PUB) 72.75p -2.94%RPC Group (RPC) 329.10p -2.92%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 451.00p -2.80%Sports Direct International (SPD) 220.70p -2.65%JPMorgan Asian Inv Trust (JAI) 229.00p -2.55%Dignity (DTY) 761.50p -2.37%