London midday: Stocks kick on as inflation eases

13th Jul 2010 12:16

Inflation figures gave the London stock market a boost this morning and the Footsie ended the session close to its highest level for the day.Consumer price inflation (CPI) eased towards the Bank of England's target level of 2% in the year to June. helped by lower petrol prices.CPI annual inflation was 3.2% in June, down from 3.4% in May. As per yesterday, oil giant BP is giving the blue-chip index a lift. The shares have been lifted by hopes it is near to stemming the flow of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. A new 75-tonne steel cap was lowered over the damaged well late last night. Reports suggested that for a brief period shortly after the new cap was installed oil stopped leaking from the Macondo well, though it resumed soon after through a valve to relieve a pressure build-up. BP shares are up by a third from their low point during the Gulf of Mexico crisis.Chip designer ARM Holdings is wanted after Goldman Sachs named it as a "primary winner" from the introduction of Apple's iPad. British American Tobacco and Unilever also moved up on Goldman's recommendations. Sales of coats and accessories were behind a better than expected leap in sales at luxury goods giant Burberry during the May to June quarter. Total sales jumped 27%, or 21% at constant exchange rates, to £291m in the three months to 30 June, although they grew 30% (24%) to £282m excluding the Spanish business which is being phased out.Northern Foods' sales fell in the first quarter as good growth in chilled foods could not offset falls in the bakery and frozen divisions. Overall, sales in the three months to end June were 1.6% lower, in line with the firm's targets in 'challenging conditions'.Engineering and project management company AMEC has won a five year master services agreement with BP Azerbaijan valued at $340m.Infrastructure specialist Balfour Beatty said its Mansell subsidiary has been appointed as one of three contractors working on a house building programme in Hackney, north London. Mansell's share of the four-year framework agreement for the London Borough of Hackney and Hackney Homes' Decent Homes programme will be about £73m.Home furnishings retailer Dunelm should beat full-year profit forecasts despite a drop in like for like (LFL) during the fourth quarter. LFL sales grew 8% in the year to 3 July following a marked slowdown during the last six months to just 0.8% from 15.4% during the first half. They actually fell 1.9% in the final 13 weeks, reflecting strong comparatives with the previous year. Specialty pharmaceuticals business BTG is enjoying continued momentum across the business with its pipeline of prospects progressing well. "We look forward to selling CroFab and DigiFab from October this year, and to seeing the full financial benefits of this from next year," said chief executive officer, Louise Makin.Bacon, pork and sausages specialist Cranswick lifted sales by 19%, to £198m, in the last three months, with organic growth up by 6% and 13% coming from acquisition CCF Norfolk.IT services provider Computacenter said first half profit is expected to increase more than 10%, in line with management expectations.African Minerals shot forward as it tied up a $1.5bn investment in its iron ore project at Tonkolili, Sierra Leone from Shandong Iron & Steel.Shares in mobile phone payments provider Monitise surged 9% after it said full year revenues are estimated to be around £6m, up 120% from the year before and as it announced plans to raise £32.4m.Online betting group Webis warned that trading for the full year ended 30 May 2010 will be significantly below the group's previous expectations. Kea Petroleum is getting excited as the Tuatara-1 well in which it has a 10% interest is expected to start drilling offshore New Zealand before the end of this month.The record seems to be stuck at Luminar, as sales continue to decline with the World Cup partly to blame. Same outlet sales across 76 clubs for the 19 weeks to 8 July 2010 were down 19.9%. In line with the company's experience of previous tournaments the World Cup has adversely affected trading, with sales down approximately an additional 6% on the run rate.Shares in Gooch & Housego jumped after the optical components and systems maker upped its expectations for revenues and profits for the year ending 30 September.Shares in Intellego climbed more than 25% after the training consultancy announced the launch of a library of workbooks in conjunction with money marketing magazine.FTSE 100 - RisersIntertek Group (ITRK) 1,640.00p +3.99%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,619.00p +3.78%Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 885.00p +3.51%Barclays (BARC) 309.60p +3.22%BP (BP.) 410.95p +3.01%Home Retail Group (HOME) 231.90p +2.84%ARM Holdings (ARM) 307.20p +2.74%Unilever (ULVR) 1,894.00p +2.71%BAE Systems (BA.) 329.10p +2.52%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 87.65p +2.45%FTSE 100 - FallersBritish Land Co (BLND) 445.50p -1.00%ICAP (IAP) 432.50p -0.09%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 694.50p -0.07%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 320.50p -0.03%Essar Energy (ESSR) 438.90p -0.02%Man Group (EMG) 215.80p 0.00%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,142.00p +0.09%BG Group (BG.) 1,085.00p +0.23%SEGRO (SGRO) 273.10p +0.29%Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) 1,185.00p +0.34%