London open: Footsie surges after China's currency move

21st Jun 2010 08:51

News over the weekend that China will relax its currency's peg to the dollar has sparked a rush into mining stocks.It's hoped the decision will boost reinvigorate the Chinese economy. Far East markets have already responded, with Japan up 2.5% and Hong Kong nearly 3%. All of the top ten risers so far this morning are miners. Rio Tinto, Xstrata, Kazakhmys and Vedanta are the best performers. BP is down again after stating the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has cost it about $2bn including $105m of claims. It also confirmed that its 25% partner in the Macondo well Anadarko Petroleum is refusing to accept responsibility for oil spill removal costs and damages.A report in today's Telegraph says BP plans to shore up its battered finances against the escalating clean-up costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill by raising around $50bn (£33bn) and pursuing Anadarko, its main partner, through the courtsProperty giant Hammerson has assumed full ownership of the Battery Retail Park in the Selly Oak part of Birmingham. Hammerson has bought the 75% interest in the retail park which it did not already own from TIAA-CREF for a consideration, including costs, of £49.5m.Among the mid-caps, printing technologies group Domino Printing Sciences has more than doubled full-year profit as customers regain confidence following the end of the recession, increasing volumes by 30%. Infrastructure specialist contractor Balfour Beatty has been appointed preferred bidder for a Derby schools project. Derby City Council has named Balfour as its preferred bidder for its £231m Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme under which 14 schools in the city will either be built or refurbished.Elsewhere, Shed Media, the TV programme maker best known for Footballers' Wives and Waterloo Road, has confirmed takeover discussions are underway with US media giant Time Warner. "The independent directors confirm that the company is in discussions with Warner Bros Entertainment Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Time Warner, working with certain members of Shed management," the company said in a statement this morning.Data Integration, a leading UK networking, security and communication technology provider, is joining the Xchanging empire. Outsourced business processes specialist Xchanging is paying £6.5m for Data Integration (DI), with a further £2.5m liable to be paid through earn out clauses. DI reported revenues of £14.5m in the year to 31 march 2010.HSBC Infrastructure Company Limited (HICL), the investment trust that buys stakes in infrastructure projects, has issued 2.6m shares at a marginal discount to Friday's closing price. The company raised £3m (net) through the issue of 2,629,734 new ordinary shares of 0.01p each in the Company at 115p each. The net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.Shares in GW Pharmaceuticals hit a 52-week high as the cannabis based medicine developer announced the UK launch of Sativex, a spray for the treatment of spasticity due to Multiple Sclerosis (MS).