LONDON (ShareCast) - Leading shares remain mixed with a moderately firmer bias, thanks largely to a buoyant mining sector.
Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news)
is the best performer on rumours that Xstrata (LSE: XTA.L - news) 's merger approach has alerted Vale from Brazil and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO.L - news) 's erstwhile partner Chinalco to the possibility that a deal could be done. Elsewhere in the sector Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ.L - news) , ENRC and Vedanta are in demand as metal prices head north.
A water leak has been identified as the cause of the matte run-out which forced the closure of Lonmin (LSE: LMI.L - news) 's Number One furnace. The company said it is on course to reopen the furnace within the previously indicated 30-day time scale.
Leading the list of laggards are Friends Provident and Experian (LSE: EXPN.L - news) , both of which have taken an ex-dividend hit this morning.
Telecoms group Cable & Wireless will become the premier supplier for power provider National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) in a deal worth £207m over 15 years. It will design, deliver and manage a dedicated Next Generation Operational Telecommunications Network (OpTel NGN) to support the transmission of electricity in the UK.
Huge one-off costs sent Kesa deep into the red last year. Ignoring one-off charges, profits tumbled to £77m (2008: £141.3m) primarily due to a profit decline at Comet (COTN.SW - news) to £10.1m (2008: £43m) and losses at Menaje del Hogar of £23m (2008: losses £1.8m). The results do not bode well for Currys and PC World owner DSG International (LSE: DSGI.L - news) , which makes a trading update tomorrow.
Stagecoach boosted full-year profit and revenue despite the bus and train firm suffering a slowdown in revenue and passenger volume growth, especially during the second half of the year. Profit before tax, excluding intangible asset expenses and exceptional items for the year ended 30 April 2009 jumped to £196.4m from £174.4m and to £170.8m on a reported basis, up from £167.3m in 2008.
Testing at Premier Oil (LSE: PMO.L - news) 's new Cá Rồng Đỏ discovery well on Block (NYSE: HRB - news) 07/03, offshore Vietnam, has shown oil flowed at a combined rate of 3,265 barrels per day.
Information giant Pearson (LSE: PSON.L - news) , is to boost its presence in the Indian education market through two initiatives costing $30m. It is forming a joint venture with Educomp Solutions to provide vocational training to students and professionals, and is taking a 17.2% stake in TutorVista, an online tutoring service based in Bangalore.
Waste management (NYSE: WMI - news) firm Shanks Group (LSE: SKS.L - news) received a healthy response to its deeply discounted rights issue, with 95.59% of the shares on offer subscribed for.
McBride (LSE: MCB.L - news) , the own private label household and personal care products supplier, expects underlying profits this year of not less than £35m after better than expected fourth quarter revenues. Analysts were expecting a figure of about £33m.
Sales slumped at Inchcape (LSE: INCH.L - news) during the five months ended 31 May, but the car dealer's shares motored ahead after the company said second quarter pre-tax profit should be "significantly" ahead of the £20m reported for the first quarter.
Shares in electrical vehicle maker Tanfield surged Wednesday morning after it said it is in line to receive government funding through the Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator Programme.
Chip designer Imagination Technologies (LSE: IMG.L - news) posted a 56% hike in annual pre-tax profit underpinned by strong licensing and royalty sales. Adjusted pre-tax profit rose to £5m for the 12 months to 30 April 2009 from £3.2m the same time the year before. Group revenue rose 16% at £64.1m.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 1,750.00p +5.93%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 618.50p +4.92%
Smiths Group (LSE: SMIN.L - news) (SMIN) 706.50p +4.05%
Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) (BARC) 269.00p +3.84%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Friends Provident Group (FP.) 66.00p -4.35%
Experian Group (EXPN) 446.00p -2.78%
Man Group (LSE: EMG.L - news) (EMG) 279.25p -2.70%
TUI Travel (LSE: TT.L - news) (TT.) 228.00p -2.36%
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