Headline shares made firm progress in midday trade today, with strength in the leisure sector underpinning gains and Severn Trent (LON:SVT) topping the leaderboard on the back of glowing full-year numbers. At high noon, the FTSE100 was up 30.84 points at 5,226.01 with the FTSE250 ahead 88.31 points at 9,735.56 and the FTSE Smallcaps 5.78 points better at 2,755.85. In New York, US stock futures edged ahead, with investors clearing the decks ahead of the long weekend break. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 16 points, S&P500 futures added 2.6 points at 1,103.7 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 3.3 points to 1,867.

LONDON MARKETS

Morning trade in London appropriately enough had a bias towards holidays as Nomura reviewed the leisure sector in positive fashion. The prospect of a resolution to the BA cabin crew strike and a more attractive sterling/euro exchange rate also gave a boost to holiday operators in early deals today, with Thomas Cook Group Plc (LON:TCG) ahead 4p at 209.9p and Tui Travel Plc (LON:TT.) gaining 6.7p at 245p, both groups enjoying broker upgrades. Cruise operator Carnival (LON:CCL) climbed 37p at 2,645p. Hotel operators InterContinental and Whitbread (LON:WTB) rose 15p at 1,104p and 38p at 1,388p, respectively.

Meanwhile British Airways (LON:BAY) edged down 0.3p at 203.9p as talks of resolving the cabin crew dispute resumed, with the current strike ending at midnight tonight and the next threatened walkout due to begin on Sunday.

Miners made solid progress as metals prices remained firm, with gold and silver miner Fresnillo (LON:FRES) jumping 20.5p at 903.5p after reporting soaring annual profits and record silver production. Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) improved 57p at 3,245p, Anglo American (LON:AAL) gained 31p at 2,716p and Xstrata Plc (LON:XTA) rose 21p at 1,032p.

Banking issues put in a mixed showing, with Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) the worst performer of the sector, sliding 22.5p at 1,659.5p as it struggles to find buyers for its stock sale in India.  Barclays (LON:BARC) was also red, down 0.1p at 308.8p, but Lloyds gained 1.07p at 57.97p and Royal Bank Of Scotland Group Plc (LON:RBS) added 0.38p at 47.15p.

Builders merchant Wolseley (LON:WOS) gained 20p at 1,668p on the back of news that midcap peer…

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