Thursday May 1, 11:18 AM
London mid-morning: Miners prop up Footsie
LONDON (ShareCast) - Leading shares are mostly lower, following Wall Street's lead, though the decline on the Footsie (news) is not too severe thanks to the strength of mining stocks. Among
the miners sporting solid gains is BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L - news) , after its board approved a $1.9bn expansion of the Worsley alumina refinery in Western Australia.Ferrochrome producer Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (LSE: ENRC.L - news) has exercised an option to buy a 50% stake in Bahia Mineracao Limitada (BML (Munich: 929419 - news) ) from Zamin for $300m in cash. Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ.L - news) , Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) , Xstrata (LSE: XTA.L - news) , Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO.L - news) and Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED.L - news) are also among the top risers. Real (Frankfurt: BJU.F - news) estate firm Hammerson said there have been further declines in UK property values in the first quarter of the year as activity in the real estate market remains restricted. Sector peer Land Securities (LSE: LAND.L - news) is weaker after Deutsche Bank (Frankfurt: DB9999 - news) downgraded the stock to "hold" from "buy". Property asset manager Capital & Regional is also hit by a broker downgrade, this time from JP Morgan, which is now neutral on the shares having previously recommended its clients be "overweight" in the stock. Furniture retailer Galiform (LSE: GFRM.L - news) is up as it saw sales at its main Howden Joinery division rise by 11%, or 5.9% on a same-deposit basis, in the first four periods of the year ending 19 April. Elsewhere in the retail sector Home Retail Group gives back some of yesterday's gains while fellow DIY retailer Kingfisher (LSE: KGF.L - news) is laid low by a downgrade from Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - news) . The US bank now rates Kingfisher shares as a "sell" having previously been neutral on the stock, and has cut its price target by a fifth to 110p. Micro Focus (LSE: MCRO.L - news) has made a recommended $7.20 per share cash offer for Nasdaq (NASDAQ: news) -listed software provider NetManage (NASDAQ: NETM - news) . The group also said it expects full-year revenues to be in the range of $226m to $228m, reflecting a combination of improved operational performance and the positive impact of exchange rate movements. Engineering (Milan: ENG.MI - news) group GKN (LSE: GKN.L - news) said it expects 2008 to be another year of solid progress with performance in line with its earlier expectations. National Express (LSE: NEX.L - news) has made a good start to the year and is trading in line with management expectations, the bus and rail operator said Thursday. Packing firm Rexam (LSE: REX.L - news) says first quarter results are in line with company expectations and its outlook for 2008 remains unchanged. Engineer Tomkins (LSE: TOMK.L - news) said the majority of the end markets it sells into remain robust but added that some of its end markets have weakened further since its year-end results. Toy train maker Hornby has agreed to buy model car maker Corgi for £7.5m in cash as it beefs up its toy brands. Bluetooth specialist CSR (LSE: CSR.L - news) hits the skids again after saying its customers are reducing inventory levels. The company has also written off its investment in UbiNetics, having decided not to proceed with its entry into the broadband market. Rank shares are wanted on hopes that the government will shortly announce a relaxation in the restrictions on category B3 gaming machines in bingo halls. Broker Investec said in a client note today that Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe is expected to make a statement to Parliament soon that could offer good news for the bingo industry. Abcam (LSE: ABC.L - news) , which sells antibodies online, said sales are expected to be ahead of expectations and added that outlook for profit for the year has improved "significantly". Higher costs and deteriorating market conditions have forced financial services firm Merchant Securities (LSE: MERC.L - news) to admit its full year loss will be bigger than expected. AT Communications (LSE: ATCG.L - news) has bagged a multi-million pound contract with the UK division of Swedish mobile phones giant Ericsson (Stockholm: ERICB.ST - news) to act as it master distributor in Britain. Bodycote gives back some of yesterday's gains after Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER - news) downgraded the engineering firm's shares to "sell" from "neutral".
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