London open: Miners provide early boost

9th Jul 2009 08:33

Miners are giving London's blue chips a lift in early dealings ahead of the Bank of England's decision on interest rates and the quantitative easing programme later today.Fresnillo is the best performer, up more than 5%, closely followed by Kazakhmys, Anglo American, Vedanta Resources, Antofagasta and Xstrata.In corporate news, Associated British Foods has seen year-on-year increases in revenue across the group. The retail division, which comprises the clothing chain Primark, saw revenues rise 20% year-on-year in the 40 weeks to 20 June 2009. Housebuilder Barratt Developments said it remains cautious about the outlook and will continue to match work in progress to demand, whilst reducing debt and controlling costs. Fund manager Man Group reported a slight dip in assets under management in the first quarter as customers withdrew funds, but said it is well placed to grow market share. Funds under Management (FUM) at 30 June stood at $43.3bn compared with $44bn announced at end May (31 March: $46.8bn).Recruiter Hays said it has been another tough quarter with demand continuing to weaken in both its temporary and permanent placement businesses. In the quarter ended June 2009, the group saw a reduction in net fees of 37% (40% on a like-for-like basis) versus last year. Defence firm Cobham has won a $32m contract from the US Navy to provide low band transmitters. The firm will provide an additional 37 AN/ALQ-99 Low Band Transmitters (LBT) under Lot 2 of the programme's Full Rate Production (FRP) phase, as part of a modification to the existing Lansdale FRP Lot 1 contract.In a similar vein, Air New Zealand has placed an order with aero engine giant Rolls-Royce for Trent 1000 engines to power its Boeing 787-9 aircraft.Housebuilder Redrow said trading results are expected to be around the lower end of analysts expectation in light of the extreme trading conditions experienced in the year. The group legally completed 2,113 new homes in the 12 months ended 30 June 2009 (2008: 3,925), in line with its expectations. Online poker firm PartyGaming said revenue since 6 April has been in line with that achieved in the first quarter, though full-year distribution costs are expected to be slightly higher than forecast.Genus said it saw further weakness in the North American dairy market in the final quarter caused by low milk prices but still expects a strong increase in profits for the year to 30 June.The boards of property groups SEGRO and Brixton have agreed the terms of their merger, to be effected by an offer by SEGRO for Brixton.Housebuilder and contractor Galliford Try said results for the full year are expected to be in line with company forecasts as the pickup in the UK housing market continues.FTSE 100 - RisersFresnillo (FRES) 475.25p +7.40%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 52.00p +4.46%Anglo American (AAL) 1,627.00p +4.06%Admiral Group (ADM) 896.00p +3.58%Home Retail Group (HOME) 268.25p +3.17%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,310.00p +3.15%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 611.00p +3.12%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 315.25p +2.94%Antofagasta (ANTO) 590.00p +2.52%British Land Co (BLND) 364.00p +2.39%FTSE 100 - FallersSage Group (SGE) 169.90p -1.91%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 440.75p -1.89%Prudential (PRU) 364.00p -1.62%Tullow Oil (TLW) 851.50p -1.39%Cairn Energy (CNE) 2,108.00p -1.36%United Utilities Group (UU.) 467.50p -1.32%Randgold Resources (RRS) 3,625.00p -1.15%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 198.50p -1.12%Shire Plc (SHP) 833.50p -1.01%Cadbury (CBRY) 521.00p -0.95%