London open: Footsie creeps higher

5th Jan 2012 08:26

Footsie is tip-toeing higher in early trade, with tech stocks, oils and banks leading the way. Oilfield services firms Petrofac and Schlumberger are to combine forces on a number of production projects in the emerging and growing production services and production enhancement market. The companies will team-up to bid for large projects that would prove too big for either company to handle on their own.Inter-dealer broker Tullett Prebon expects revenue for 2011 to be on a par with that seen in 2010, though using constant exchange rates, and adjusting for the impact of the closure in 2010 of the satellite offices in North America and for the recent acquisition of Convenção, revenue is expected to be around 2% higher.'Imperial Leather' soap maker PZ Cussons is to extend its consumer products range with the acquisition of the Fudge hair care brand from Australia's Sabre Group. PZ Cussons is paying £25.5m in cash for the brand and associated inventory.Contracting firms Balfour Beatty and Carillion seem to be in a race to make the most contract win announcements in the first week of the year, and the score currently stands at two-all.In a deal worth up to £750m, Balfour Beatty will continue maintenance and upgrade work on the UK electricity transmission network for National Grid.Two days after it announced a contract to work on the M6 motorway Carillion is on the road again, this time in Canada, where it has won a highway maintenance contract. The 12-year contract is worth in excess of £100m.Beleaguered sports retailer JJB Sports pulled it socks up in the second half of last year, with like-for-like sales over the key four-week Christmas period up 5%, in line with company expectations. Margins also recovered in the last four weeks, with like-for-like cash gross margins up by 6%.FTSE 100 - RisersSage Group (SGE) 300.10p +2.42%ARM Holdings (ARM) 606.50p +2.02%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,491.00p +1.77%Wolseley (WOS) 2,162.00p +1.65%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,591.00p +1.40%Land Securities Group (LAND) 637.00p +1.35%Carnival (CCL) 2,174.00p +1.26%BG Group (BG.) 1,447.00p +1.22%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,459.50p +1.21%Barclays (BARC) 190.55p +1.17%FTSE 100 - FallersEvraz (EVR) 385.00p -1.13%CRH (CRH) 1,271.00p -1.09%Vodafone Group (VOD) 178.20p -1.00%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 104.30p -0.95%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,076.00p -0.74%Next (NXT) 2,637.00p -0.72%Anglo American (AAL) 2,455.00p -0.67%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,033.00p -0.67%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,044.50p -0.65%Compass Group (CPG) 609.50p -0.57%FTSE 250 - RisersLancashire Holdings (LRE) 723.00p +4.10%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 10.00p +3.09%WH Smith (SMWH) 532.00p +2.80%Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 333.30p +2.71%Allied Gold Mining (ALD) 150.00p +2.46%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 276.00p +1.77%Derwent London (DLN) 1,575.00p +1.55%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 75.75p +1.54%Senior (SNR) 178.70p +1.53%Petropavlovsk (POG) 654.00p +1.47%FTSE 250 - FallersCable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 17.74p -3.85%Rank Group (RNK) 127.00p -3.50%Cape (CIU) 320.30p -3.20%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 526.00p -3.04%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 530.00p -2.39%Redrow (RDW) 113.30p -2.33%Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 193.00p -2.23%Laird (LRD) 146.80p -2.13%Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 395.40p -2.06%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 253.60p -2.01%jh