Commodities

LONDON (ShareCast) - Oil stocks are helping Footsie (news) post good gains after the price of a barrel of crude climbed above $78.

Big name oil firms such as BP and Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) are higher as is Tullow.

Lloyds is the best performer. It has sold its loss-making Halifax estate agency business for £1 to LSL Property.

National Express (LSE: NEX.L - news) , though, is the main talking point. The rail and bus group's price has crashed by more than a quarter as investors face the prospect of a hefty rights issue after the CVC consortium dropped its interest in making a bid.

Admiral (LSE: ADM.L - news) remains on track to meet 2009 profit forecasts with a "fine" third quarter at its car insurance business helping turnover grow 22% to £294m. "I'm pleased to report that not much has changed in three months," said boss Henry Engelhardt in a short trading update. "Our successful business continues to grow and prosper."

Fixed income fund manager BlueBay lifted funds under management by 28% over the past three months driven by strong demand for investment grade bonds. Estimated assets under management at end September amounted to $31.1bn, a $6.8bn increase since June. Net

Greeting cards retailer Clinton Cards (LSE: CC.L - news) saw sales fall in the year to August 2, but saw an improvement in the second half of the period that continued into the new financial year.

Virgin Mobile France, in which Carphone Warehouse (LSE: CPW.L - news) has a 48.5% stake, is to pay €56m (£51.3m) in cash for Tele2 France and its 385,000 customers. Chrysalis (LSE: CHS.L - news) expects full year results to be "slightly" ahead of forecasts after its Music Publishing and Lasgo businesses performed well during the past two months.

Engineering (Milan: ENG.MI - news) project designer Aveva's latest six months has seen trading slightly ahead of expectations helped by exchange rate movements and solid demand from its existing customers.

IT Infrastructure services provider Computacenter (LSE: CCC.L - news) posted an 8% decline in sales to £552m during the third quarter amid difficult economic conditions, but said recent contract wins and an encouraging pipeline for the future left it well positioned.