London open: Miners weigh on FTSE 100

4th May 2011 08:32

The top share index is demonstrating how it at the mercy of the global economy today, with a strong showing from the retail sector failing to offset weakness in miners as commodity prices fall.Next is higher after warm weather and the royal wedding holiday had shoppers flocking to its stores in the 13 weeks to 30 April, the fashion retailer said as it reported better sales than expected for the period. Total sales for the period excluding VAT were up by 5.2% from the same period the previous year, ahead of guidance given in March of between -0.5% and +2.5%. High Street rival Marks & Spencer advances in sympathy.But lower commodity prices have hurt miners, with Antofagasta leading the sector - and the FTSE 100 - lower after its quarterly production report.But Aquarius Platinum is bucking the trend after the company said it is to buy mineral rights in an area next to its own operations in the Eastern limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex. Aquarius has entered into a sale of rights agreement with Northam Platinum to acquire the rights. Aquarius Group companies will pay Northam R1.2bn (£109m). Kazakh copper producer Kazakhmys says it is on track to meet 2011 production targets after a strong first quarter in which commodity prices remained firm. The company produced 74,000 tonnes of copper cathode in the three months to 31 March and is set to achieve its aim of producing 300,000 tonnes over the full year.In other sectors, Asian markets-focused banking group Standard Chartered released an upbeat trading statement in which it said the group is seeing double digit income growth in comparison with the first quarter of last year, with Consumer Banking making a larger contribution this time round, "as it continues to make progress in its strategic repositioning." Accountancy software firm Sage released interim figures that were ahead of some brokers' forecasts as its North American business returned to growth. Underlying profit before tax in the half-year ended 31 March rose 4% to £183.5m from £176.1m a year earlier. Underlying earnings per share (EPS) also increased 4% to 9.87p, from 9.52p the year before. Broker Matrix Group had forecast EPS of 9.7p.Engineering solutions provider Weir Group is lower even after it said it expects full year profit before tax and intangibles amortisation to be around £20m ahead of its previous expectations following a strong first quarter. Glasgow-based Weir Group said a record opening order book and contributions from acquisitions made last year has increased its confidence in achieving further good progress in 2011. Software group Logica is wanted after saying it expects to see sales ahead of the market in 2011 after strong growth in revenues and orders in the three months to 31 March. Orders were up by 29% from the same period a year ago at £1.399bn. Revenue grew by 5%. The growth was driven by commercial sectors, said Logica, which also has strong exposure to the public sector. FTSE 100 - RisersNext (NXT) 2,301.00p +3.56%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 389.00p +1.20%National Grid (NG.) 621.50p +0.81%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,445.00p +0.76%Sage Group (SGE) 288.60p +0.66%Kingfisher (KGF) 272.20p +0.63%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,888.00p +0.53%Tesco (TSCO) 408.15p +0.53%Reed Elsevier (REL) 541.50p +0.46%Inmarsat (ISAT) 613.50p +0.41%FTSE 100 - FallersAntofagasta (ANTO) 1,263.00p -5.18%ARM Holdings (ARM) 580.00p -3.65%Capita Group (CPI) 708.50p -3.14%Serco Group (SRP) 548.00p -2.75%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 120.90p -2.34%Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,192.00p -2.34%BG Group (BG.) 1,469.00p -2.33%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,631.00p -2.07%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,387.00p -2.05%Cairn Energy (CNE) 441.20p -1.96%FTSE 250 - RisersAquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 359.00p +6.91%Home Retail Group (HOME) 222.00p +2.21%Logica (LOG) 138.60p +2.21%Carpetright (CPR) 698.00p +2.20%Debenhams (DEB) 69.00p +1.77%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 299.70p +1.52%SIG (SHI) 142.90p +1.35%Avis Europe (AVE) 194.00p +1.25%COLT Group SA (COLT) 146.00p +0.90%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 171.50p +0.88%FTSE 250 - FallersExillon Energy (EXI) 428.20p -8.84%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 473.70p -4.90%Afren (AFR) 151.70p -3.80%Salamander Energy (SMDR) 289.00p -3.67%Keller Group (KLR) 638.00p -3.55%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,651.00p -3.53%Laird (LRD) 138.30p -3.42%Babcock International Group (BAB) 623.50p -3.33%JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 304.00p -3.18%Rightmove (RMV) 1,035.00p -2.91%