London midday: Stocks still stuck lower

27th Jul 2011 12:03

The top share index nestles slightly in negative territory, perhaps waiting for US trading to start before striking into the blue.Energy supplier Scottish & Southern Energy is suffering after going ex-dividend.Meanwhile, sector peer Centrica also fell, albeit by a lesser extent, after utilities firm British Gas (owned by Centrica) received a £2.5m fine for mishandling customer complaints. Terrestrial broadcaster ITV fell after warning that the outlook for the TV advertising market remains uncertain, despite earnings and revenue beating estimates in the first half.But software groups are in demand, notably data search group Autonomy, which posted record revenues in the second quarter and hailed the shift by many of its customers towards its "cloud" computing services. Revenues rose by 16% from the same quarter last year to $256m (£156.5m). Autonomy said its cloud business - which allows customers to manage data on computers remotely - had commitments from customers worth $465m on 30 June, up from $390m three months earlier. Earnings per share climbed to $0.30 from $0.22. In the same sector, accountancy software titan Sage edged higher after saying that it has continued to deliver good growth despite an uncertain economic backdrop, and full year results should be in line with the board's expectations.Interim figures from cigarettes maker British American Tobacco underwhelmed, despite numbers coming in slightly ahead of expectations, as higher prices offset volume weakness.In the FTSE 250, shares in Provident Financial jumped after the doorstep lender lifted half year profits on the back of higher customer numbers. Pre-tax profits in the half year to 30 June climbed to £62.3m from £54m as customer numbers increased to 2.4m from 2.3m. Another high riser on the FTSE 250 was bluetooth chip specialist CSR as second quarter revenue came in line with management guidance, and slightly ahead of what the City was expecting.Electrical components manufacturer Laird rose after it reported a 65% surge in half year underlying pre-tax profit and said it expects further progress through the rest of 2011 and beyond.Also wanted was Dignity, the provider of funeral-related services, after it said that revenue grew 6.7% in the six months ended 1 July.Mainland European newspaper publisher Mecom posted a fall in revenues and profits in the half year to 30 June, but sees the decline in print advertising to slow in the second half and intends to pay a 5.5 euro cent (4.9p) interim dividend. The shares moved higher. FTSE 100 - RisersAutonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,744.00p +5.31%ITV (ITV) 69.70p +2.50%Lonmin (LMI) 1,336.00p +2.38%Sage Group (SGE) 283.60p +2.35%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,722.00p +1.77%IMI (IMI) 1,114.00p +1.36%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 597.00p +1.27%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,365.00p +1.13%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,362.00p +1.11%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,660.00p +1.07%FTSE 100 - FallersScottish & Southern Energy (SSE) 1,332.00p -4.93%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 43.49p -3.72%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 34.96p -3.35%Barclays (BARC) 221.50p -3.17%BT Group (BT.A) 191.50p -2.05%Investec (INVP) 498.40p -1.99%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,584.00p -1.98%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,444.00p -1.77%Aviva (AV.) 402.50p -1.66%Centrica (CNA) 320.60p -1.57%FTSE 250 - RisersProvident Financial (PFG) 1,114.00p +8.26%Cranswick (CWK) 651.50p +3.58%CSR (CSR) 300.50p +3.44%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 176.00p +2.80%Petropavlovsk (POG) 841.00p +2.69%Beazley (BEZ) 135.10p +2.58%Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 423.50p +2.57%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 147.00p +2.51%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 340.00p +2.26%Bellway (BWY) 692.50p +2.14%FTSE 250 - FallersRenishaw (RSW) 1,701.00p -9.81%Premier Foods (PFD) 19.00p -5.00%Spirent Communications (SPT) 129.90p -3.78%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,010.00p -3.35%ITE Group (ITE) 222.80p -3.09%Greggs (GRG) 515.50p -3.01%Laird (LRD) 185.60p -2.93%Croda International (CRDA) 1,929.00p -2.77%Elementis (ELM) 177.60p -2.74%Invensys (ISYS) 309.00p -2.15%